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3 
CHAETISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES 


^CPIFM- ¥78^326 


STUDIES  IN  HISTORY,  EOONOMIOS  AND  PUBLIO  LAW 

EDITED  BY  THE  FACULTY  OF  POLITICAL  SCIENCE 
OF  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 

Volume  LXXIII]  [Number  3 

Whole  Kmnber  173 


C^HARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES 

A  Study  in  Democracy 


BT 


HAROLD  UNDERWOOD  FAULKNER,  Ph.D. 


THE  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONGMANS,  GREEN  &  CO.,  AGENTS 

Loinx>N :  P.  S.  King  &  Son,  Ltd. 

1916 


0A  SS'^I  •  7 

r  3r 


COPYMGHT,  I916 
BV 

HAROLD  UNDERWOOD  FAULKNER 


PREFACE 

The  real  significance  of  the  Chartist  movement  has 
only  recently  been  realized.  Its  apparent  sudden  col- 
lapse under  circumstances  humiliating  to  its  followers  has 
enabled  the  average  bourgeois  historian  to  dismiss  the 
whole  subject  with  a  few  remarks  emphasizing  chiefly 
some  humorous  incidents  of  the  closing  scene.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  movement  in  arousing  the  English  proleta- 
riat to  a  class  consciousness  and  in  preparing  them  for 
their  inevitable  share  in  the  political  structure  of  English 
democracy  has  never  been  adequately  appreciated,  while 
the  part  taken  by  the  Chartists  and  their  leaders  in  the 
various  reform  movements  of  the  time  has  been  almost 
ignored.  Outside  of  the  interesting  and  straightfor- 
ward history  of  Gammage,  a  prominent  Chartist,  most 
of  the  attention  devoted  to  the  subject  has  been  by 
French  and  German  scholars,  the  sum  total  of  which, 
however,  has  been  astonishingly  small  when  the  impor- 
tance of  Chartism  is  considered. 

By  the  religious  and  political  radical  the  idea  that 
organized  Christianity  as  represented  in  the  churches  has 
ordinarily  been  opposed  to  progress,  especially  scientific 
and  political,  has  long  been  accepted  as  a  truism. 
Ardent  churchmen,  on  their  side,  aroused  by  the  taunts 
of  their  opponents  and  under  the  spell  of  an  expafiding 
democracy  and  new  conceptions  of  social  justice,  have  in 
recent  years  endeavored  to  picture  Christ  as  the  first 
great  reformer  and  his  teachings  as  a  platform  advanced 
enough  for  the  most  radical.  Realizing  that  a  large 
469I  S 


5  PREFACE  [470 

clement  of  truth  underlies  the  arguments  of  both  groups 
and  with  no  intention  to  answer  generally  any  of  the 
questions  involved,  the  author  has  thought  it  worth  while 
to  take  some  important  movement  in  favor  of  democracy 
and  examine  as  closely  as  the  available  sources  permitted 
the  attitude  of  the  various  churches  toward  it.  Because 
of  the  slight  attention  heretofore  given  it  and  because 
of  its  unique  position  as  the  first  distinctly  proletariat 
agitation  of  modern  times  the  Chartist  movement  has 
been  chosen. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  essay  the  author  is  largely- 
indebted  to  Professor  James  T.  Shotwell,  under  whose 
direction  the  work  was  done  and  from  whose  criticisms 
the  thesis  has  profited;  to  Professor  Edwin  R.  A.  Selig- 
man,  who  put  at  his  disposal  the  Chartist  collection  in 
his  private  library;  to  Professor  William  Walker  Rock- 
well of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  who  read  the  thesis 
and  made  numerous  suggestions;  and  to  his  Father, 
Professor  John  Alfred  Faulkner  of  Drew  Theological 
Seminary. 

H.  U.  F. 
Madison,  N.  J.,  April  10, 1916. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


FACE 

Fksface. 5 

CHAPTER  I 
Attitude  of  Chartism  Towards  thb  Church 

I.  Religion  of  the  Working  Classes 9 

II.  Chartism  and  Christianity 19 

A.  Chartist  Interpretation  of  Christianity 19 

B.  Christianity  and  Politics 23 

III.  Attitude  of  the  Chartists  Towards  the  Church  and  Clergy 28 

IV.  Program  of  the  Chartists  in  Respect  to  the  Church 33 

V.  Visits  to  the  Churches 35 

CHAPTER  II 
Chartist  Substitutions  for  the  Prevaiung  Christianity 

I.  Christian  Chartist  Churches 42 

II.  Education 46 

III.  Temperance  and  Teetotalism      52 

IV.  Other  Reforms ^ 56 

CHAPTER  III 
Attitude  of  the  Churches  Towards  Chartism 

I.  The  Church  of  England      59 

A.  The  Church  as  a  Whole 59 

B.  The  High  Church  or  Oxford  Movement      68 

C.  The  Broad  Church          75 

II.  The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  and  Its  Ofifehoots 80 

III.  The  Other  Nonconformist  Churches      9^ 

IV.  Scotland 107 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Positive  Contribution  of  the  Church  to  the  Chartist  Movement 

I.  The  Work  of  the  Clergy no 

II.  The  Complete  Suf&age  Movement 115 

471]  7 


8  CONTENTS  [472 

1 

PAGE 
APPENDICES 

I.  Petition  of  the  Complete  Suffrage  Conference  of  April,  1842,  to  the  House 

of  Commons 121 

II.  Chartist  Gospel — ^A  New  Revelation      123 

III,  The  Church  of  England  and  Chartism       126 

IV.  A  Prayer  Recently  Delivered  At  the  Opening  of  a  Chartist  Church  in 

London       129 

V.  Rules  and  Objects  of  the  East  London  Chartist  Temperance  Associa- 
tion      131 

VI.  Charles  Kingsley's  Appeal  to  the  Chartists  of  April  12,  1848     ....    133 

BiBUOGRAPHY I35 


Edward  ^L  ^uL 


tne 


CHAPTER  I 
Attitude  of  Chartism  towards  the  Church 

i.  religion  of  the  working  classes 

The  Reform  Bill  of  1832  was  the  first  notable  result  of 
the  Industrial  Revolution  upon  the  constitutional  frame- 
work of  the  English  Government.  It  increased  the 
electorate  and  recognized  the  distribution  of  population 
in  the  awarding  of  representation.  But  the  Reform  Bill 
of  1832  was  not  a  democratic  measure.  Although  both 
the  middle  and  lower  classes  had  contributed  to  the 
struggle  for  its  adoption  only  the  former  benefited  from 
it.  The  lower  bourgeoisie  and  proletariat,  comprising 
the  majority  of  the  population,  were  still  left  without  the 
vote,  and  to  them  the  Reform  Bill  was  to  be  but  the 
first  step  toward  an  ultimate  democracy. 

When  the  smoke  of  the  struggle  cleared  away,  the 
great  class  still  disfranchised  discovered  that  not  only 
had  they  reaped  no  benefit  from  the  reform  they  had  so 
largely  helped  to  win,  but  that  their  lot  under  a  re- 
formed Parliament  dominated  by  the  doctrines  of  the 
Manchester  School  seemed  to  be  worse  than  ever.  The 
political  discontent  of  the  people  was  at  last  given  voice 
in  1838  when  the  People's  Charter  was  launched  under 
the  supervision  of  the  London  Working  Men's  Associa- 
tion. The  demands  of  the  People's  Charter  which 
formed  the  program  of  the  Chartist  movement  were  six 
in  number  and  included  manhood  suffrage,  annual  par- 
liaments, vote  by  ballot,  abolition  of  property  qualifica- 
473]  9 


10  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [474 

tion  for  seats  in  Parliament,  payment  of  members  of 
Parliament  and  division  of  the  country  into  equal  electoral 
districts/ 

Although  the  manifestations  of  Chartism  were  political, 
its  causes  were  largely  economic'  The  unparalleled 
social  misery  of  the  people  ^  gave  to  the  Chartist  move- 
ment a  stimulus  which  made  it  in  a  sense  but  a  sequel  to 
the  agitations  for  factory  reform  and  in  opposition  to  the 
New  Poor  Law.  The  attainment  of  the  Charter  was 
expected  to  usher  in  the  social  millennium.  But  the  most 
significant  feature  of  Chartism  was  that  it  was  the  first 
distinctive  workingmen's  movement  of  modern  times,* 
and  the  Charter  contained  both  their  ideal  of  political 
justice  and  their  hope  of  social  amelioration. ^ 

^Gammage,  History  of  the  Chartist  Movement,  new  ed.  (London, 
1894),  Appendix  B,  where  the  Charter  is  given. 

*  Rogers,  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages,  6th  ed.  (London,  1901), 
p.  440;  Walpole,  History  of  England,  rev,  ed.  (London,  1902-5),  iv, 
50  ;  Carlyle,  Chartism,  chapter  i ;  Rose,  Rise  of  Democracy  (London, 
1897),  pp.  129,  130  ;  Wisconsin  Academy  of  Science,  Arts  and  Letters 
(Madison,  1900),  xii,  567. 

^Parliamentary  Papers. 

*Engels,  Socialism,  Utopian  and  Scientific  (London,  1892),  Intro- 
duction, p.  XXX. 

'  It  is  outside  the  field  of  the  monograph  to  enter  into  a  history  of 
the  Chartist  Movement.  The  leading  studies  covering  it  will  be  found 
in  the  bibliography  under  the  heading  "General  Works"  under 
"  Chartism."  The  chief  source  is  the  remarkably  interesting  but 
detailed  running  account  of  R.  G,  Gammage,  a  prominent  participant 
in  the  agitation,  in  his  History  of  the  Chartist  Movement,  1837—1854 
(London,  new  ed.,  1894).  Failure  to  consider  the  social  and  economic 
phases  of  the  movement  is  its  chief  weakness.  Next  in  importance  to 
Gammage  is  Eduard  Dolleans'  Le  Chartisme,  2  vols.  (Paris  1912),  strong 
in  its  development  of  the  social  and  political  theories  of  the  proletariat 
but  disappointing  to  the  student  for  its  lack  of  footnotes.  Tildsley  in 
his  Die  Entstehung  und  die  okonomischen  Grundsdtze  der  Chartisten- 
bewegung  (Jena,  1898)  deals  intelligently  with  the  economic  back- 
ground and  Dierlamm  {Die  Flugschriftenliteratur  der  Chartistenbeweg- 


475]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH       u 

In  this  first  great  struggle  of  the  proletariat  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  attitude  of  organized  Christianity,  as  repre- 
sented by  the  Church  of  England  and  the  dissenting 
bodies,  early  presented  itself.  Would  these  churches 
officially  keep  out  of  the  struggle  entirely  or  would  they 
line  up  on  one  side  or  the  other?  With  the  vast  polit- 
ical and  spiritual  power  of  the  churches  enlisted  in  the 
cause  of  democracy  success  was  assured;  without  their 
co-operation  the  struggle  would  be  infinitely  harder. 
It  is  to  an  examination  of  the  relationship  of  the  English 
proletariat  to  the  church  during  the  years  of  the  Chartist 
movement  that  the  following  pages  are  devoted. 

In  a  study  of  the  relationship  between  the  Chartist 
movement  and  the  church  some  attention  should  be  given 
in  the  first  place  to  the  state  of  religion  amongst  the 
working  class  and  the  type  of  religion,  if  any,  professed 
by  them.  The  extraordinary  increase  of  population  fol- 
lowing the  English  industrial  revolution,  an  increase 
which  in  less  than  150  years  more  than  quadrupled  the 
population  of  England  alone,'  could  not  fail  but  have  its 
effect  upon  the  religious  life  of  the  country.  If  the  Es- 
tablished and  Nonconformist  churches  were  able  ap- 
proximately to  take  care  of  the  population  in  1750,  the 
reverse  was  true  seventy-five  years  later.  Population, 
especially  in  the  large  towns  which  sprang  up  with  aston- 
ishing rapidity^  all  over  Great  Britain,  had  long  since 

ung  und  ihr  Widerhall  in  der  offentlichen  Meinung,  Leipzig,  1909) 
with  the  pamphlet  literature  and  its  effect.  Carlyle's  Chartism  (1839)  is 
merely  an  interpretation. 

'  The  population  of  England  in  1750  was  about  6,467,000  ;  in  191 1  about 
34,045,290. 

*  Weber,  Growth  of  Cities  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  (N.  Y.,  1899), 
p.  40  et.  seq. 


12  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [476 

outgrown  the  antiquated  machinery  of  the  State  Church/ 
Although  the  Church  of  England  was  taking  on  a  new 
lease  of  life  through  the  enthusiasm  engendered  by  the 
Oxford  movement,  and  because  parliamentary  investiga- 
tions and  Ecclesiastical  Commissions  had  made  it  neces- 
sary, only  a  beginning  had  yet  been  made  in  reclaiming 
the  lost  multitude.  In  Leeds,  a  parish  numbering  150,- 
000,  the  parish  church  had  fifty  communicants.''  Nor  had 
the  Dissenters  been  able  to  take  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunity; most  of  the  sects  by  the  second  quarter  of  the  19th 
century  represented  almost  entirely  a  middle-class  con- 
stituency. Even  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  which 
in  early  days  had  been  preeminently  the  church  of  the 
manufacturing  and  mining  poor  and,  but  for  its  mode  of 
government,  might  have  earned  the  name  of  the  Church 
of  the  Industrial  Revolution,  had  by  the  beginning  of  the 
Chartist  period  also  suffered  the  blight  of  respectability 
and  had  lost  the  confidence  of  the  intelligent  workingman 
because  of  the  conservatism  of  its  political  policy,  the 
Tory  affiliations  of  its  leading  ministers  and  the  undemo- 
cratic form  of  its  government. 

The  support  of  the  churches  in  England  during  this 
period  was  decidedly  a  middle-class  affair.  Observers  of 
all  types  of  religious  thought  recognized  it.  "  What 
struck  every  cultivated  foreigner  who  set  up  his  residence 
in  England  ",  said  Engels,  who  was  a  close  observer, 
"was  what  he  was  bound  to  consider  the  religious  big- 
otry and  stupidity  of  the  English  respectable  middle 
class."  3     Robertson  as  pastor  in  his  new  field  at  Brigh- 

^  Parliamentary  Reports  of  Ecclesiastical  Commissions.  Perry,  A 
History  of  the  English  Church  (London,  i8go),  vol.  iii,  p.  260  et  seq. 
Bloomfield,  A  Memoir  of  Charles  James  Bloom^eld  (London,  1863), 
vol.  i,  ch.  ix. 

*  Perry,  op.  cit.,  iii,  262.  'Engels,  Socialism,  p.  xiv. 


477]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH       13 

ton  found  only  the  middle  class  faithful.'  The  Church 
of  England  Magazine  recognized  fully  this  relation  of 
the  middle  class  to  EngHsh  religion,''  while  Miall,  the 
most  acute  journalist  of  the  Nonconformists,  afifirmed 
that  British  Christianity  was  "  essentially  the  Christianity 
developed  by  a  middle-class  soil "  and  as  such  "  fast  de- 
caying" and  ''void  of  efficiency." ^ 

If  a  monopolization  of  religion  by  the  bourgeoisie  was 
admitted,  the  lack  on  the  part  of  the  proletariat  of  a 
formal  religious  affiliation  with  any  sect  was  equally  ap- 
parent and  deplored  by  ministers  of  all  denominations. 
Says  Mozley,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  High-Church 
movement,  "  It  may  be  truly  said  that  the  whole  of 
our  manufacturing  people,  the  whole  of  the  poorer 
classes  in  our  towns,  are  alienated  from  the  church. 
Yet  this  does  not  express  by  any  means  the  sum  of  their 
misery.  An  enormous  proportion,  three  fourths  or  nine 
tenths,  are  neither  church  people,  nor  of  any  other  reli- 

'  Brooke,  Life  and  Letters  of  Frederick  W.  Robertson,  M.  A.  (New 
York,  n.  d,)  p.  no. 

'  *  "  Amidst  the  reports  of  infidelity  reigning,  either  covertly  or  openly, 
over  large  bodies  of  men  in  Europe,  it  is  satisfactory  to  find  our  middle 
classes  so  little  aflfected  by  the  plausibilities  of  false  speculation.  Were 
they  to  lose  their  religious  principles,  the  lower  classes  would  soon 
break  out  into  open  infidelity,  and  then  '  the  beginning  of  the  end ' 
would  be  near.  Of  this  catastrophe  there  appears,  at  present,  no  sign  ; 
though  it  is  to  be  feared  that  false  notions,  and  destructive  ideas  in 
morals,  have  infected  numbers  of  the  workmen  in  the  towns  and  great 
factories.  Indeed,  the  middle  classes  are  less  likely  to  fall  into  such 
errors  now  than  twenty  years  ago,  when  a  dangerous  spirit  seemed 
brooding  over  the  land,  waiting  for  a  signal  to  burst  into  fearful  activity. 
It  is  in  the  religious  activity  of  the  middle  classes  that  we  must  rely  for 
the  most  effective  checks  to  the  evils  arising  from  our  highly  artificial 
state  of  society,  and  from  the  spread  of  luxurious  habits  consequent  upon 
the  diffusion  of  wealth."  The  Church  of  England  Magazine,  vol. 
xxiii,  p.  20,  (July  10,  1847). 

'Miall,  Life  of  Edward  Miall  (London,  1884),  pp.  151,  152. 


14  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [478 

gion. " '  **  An  artizan  with  his  wife  and  children,  "  says 
the  same  author,  "are  seldom  seen  anywhere ;  at  church 
never. " "  A  workingman,  who  had  given  the  subject 
some  thought,  and  who  spoke  from  personal  observation, 
believed  that  a  mechanic  was  "  as  seldom  found  in  a  reli- 
gious assembly  as  a  religious  man  in  many  of  our  work- 
shops, "  3  The  causes  for  this  alienation  are  not  difficult 
to  ascertain.  Christianity  was  "widely  and  truly  be- 
lieved to  be  as  a  whole  opposed  to  the  social  aspirations 
of  the  nation, "  and  nothing  could  save  it  from  the 
"charge  of  being  obstructive  and  reactionary.""*  The 
workingmen  turned  disgustedly  away  from  an  Establish- 
ment which  sought  to  perpetuate  in  the  government 
abuses  only  too  apparent,  and  from  the  Dissenters,  who, 
after  they  had  carried  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832,  had,  as 
the  workingmen  believed,  betrayed  them. 

To  take  the  place  of  religious  enthusiasm  the  working- 
men  found  an  outlet  for  their  feelings  in  "  reforming 
clubs,  Chartist  gatherings,  trades  unions,  and  political 
debating  circles."  *  As  regards  religion  the  reaction 
from  the  worn-out  evangelicalism  of  the  period  devel- 
oped itself  along  two  lines.  The  first  of  these  was  infi- 
delity. Modern  free  thought,  launched  by  Herbert  of 
Cherbury  and  Hobbes,  and  taken  up  enthusiastically  on 
the  Continent,  now  returned  to  the  land  of  its  birth,  but- 
tressed with  all  the  learning  of  the  rapidly  developing 
sciences.     But  whereas  in  its  early  days  it  was  the  play- 

^  British  Critic,  vol.  28,  p.  346  (1840). 
^Ibid.,  p.  337. 

^  The  Literature  of  the  Working  Men,  vol,  i,  Apr.  1850,  p.  5;  also 
vide  The  Champion,  vol.  i,  p.  156  et.  seq. 

*Hall,  The  Social  Meaning  of  Modem  Religious  Movements  in  Eng^- 
land  (N.  Y.,  1900),  p.  162. 
^ Ibid.,  p.  168. 


479]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH       15 

thing  of  aristocrats  it  now  became  the  accepted  creed  of 
thousands  of  workingmen.  **  In  order  to  find  people 
who  dared  to  use  their  own  intellectual  faculties  with  re- 
gard to  religious  matters,"  said  Engels,  "you  had  to  go 
amongst  the  uneducated,  the  *  great  unwashed ',  as  they 
were  called,  the  working  people,  especially  the  Owenite 
Socialists."'  Kingsley  was  no  less  dogmatic.  "The 
devil  has  got  the  best  long  ago,  "  he  complained,  for  "the 
cream  and  pith  of  working  intellect  is  almost  exclusively 
self-educated,  and  therefore,  also  infidel !  "  '^  Disraeli  de- 
scribes St.  Lys,  his  ideal  clergyman,  as  a  vicar  "  who 
came  among  a  hundred  thousand  heathen  to  preach  the 
word  of  God."  ^  This  spread  of  infidelity  was  naturally 
distressing  to  the  churchmen,*  and  it  was  a  desire  to 
win  the  workingman  back  to  Christianity  chiefly  that 
moved  Maurice  and  Kingsley  to  their  philanthropic  ef- 
forts for  the  poor  of  London. 

The  growth  of  infidelity  was  accentuated  by  the  influ- 
ence of  the  socialistic  movement,  which,  up  to  that  time 
in  consequence  of  the  well-known  views  of  Owen,  had 
been  largely  tinged  with  unbelief.  The  fact  that  many 
of  the  Chartist  leaders  and  great  hosts  of  their  followers 
were  both  socialists  and  infidels  gave  a  handle  to  the 
continued  accusations  of  their  enemies.  Such  Chartist 
leaders  as  Hetherington,  Watson,  Carlile,  Walter  Cooper 
and  Holyoake  were  actively  associated  with  one  or  more 
of  the  numerous  infidel  papers  which  usually  also  advo- 
cated socialism  and   incidentally   Chartism   as  the  most 

'  Engels,  Socialism,  p.  xiv. 

^Charles  Kingsley:  His  Letters  and  Memories  of  His  Life,  ed.  by 
His  Wife,  loth  ed.  (London,  1878),  pp.  234,  248;  Alton  Locke,  p.  275. 

'  Disraeli,  Sybil,  p.  125. 

^Church  of  England  Magazine,  xxiii,  20  ;  Christian  Guardian,  1847, 
p.  32s  ;  Methodist  Minutes,  ix,  115,  403. 


l6  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [480 

practical  means  at  hand  for  the  inaugurating  of  the  new 
social  order/  while  Thomas  Cooper  and  others  were 
active  in  the  propaganda  of  David  Friedrich  Strauss, 
extremely  popular  in  England  among  certain  classes 
after  the  publication  of  ''  Leben  JesuT'^  The  works  of 
Paine,  Holyoake  and  other  religious  radicals  were  regu- 
larly advertised  in  many  of  the  leading  Chartist  journals, 
including  The  Northern  Star.  The  EngHshmen  of  the 
upper  and  middle  classes  had  already  learned  from  French 
history  to  associate  political  radicalism  with  infidelity, 
and  now  the  development  in  England  seemed  only  to 
prove  an  inalienable  connection  between  the  two.  Such 
phrases  as  *' infidel  democracy,"  ^  "sedition  and  blas- 
phemy,"* etc.,  came  soon  almost  unconsciously  to  be 
part  of  the  intellectual  equipment  of  these  two  classes. 
"Republicans,  Infidels,  Sabbath- breakers  and  Blas- 
phemers, who  are,  unhappily,  a  curse  to  themselves,  a 
curse  to  their  Fellow-Countrymen,  and  a  curse  to  the 
land  that  owns  them,"  ^  is  one  description  of  the  Chartists, 
and  of  by  no  means  an  exceptional  type.  The  charge 
of  infidelity  naturally  took  its  place  as  a  leading  stock 
argument  against  Chartism  and  was  continually  held  up 
before  the  eyes  of  the  horrified  bourgeoisie  in  sermons, 
pamphlets  and  speeches  to  such  an  extent  that  the  two 
were,  in  the  minds  of  many,  synonymous. 

'  The  growth  of  the  infidel  press  in  England  during  this  period  is  re- 
markable. It  included  such  papers  as,  "  The  Movement"  edited  by 
Holyoake  and  Ryall ;  "The  Reasoner :  and  Hetald  of  Progress," 
backed  by  many  leading  Chartists;  "The  Union,"  edited  by  G.  A. 
Fleming  ;  "  The  Oracle  of  Reason,"  edited  by  Charles  Southworth  and 
Thomas  Paterson  ;  "  The  Model  Republic  "  and  "  Cooper's  Journal." 

*  Translated  by  George  Eliot,  1846. 

'  IVesleyan  Meth.  Mag.,  Feb.  1838,  vol.  xvii,  p.  153. 

*  The  People,  i,  333. 

»  The  Real  Chartist,  by  C.  L.,  4  ed.  (London,  1848)  p.  13. 


48l]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH       ly 

The  Chartists  of  course  resented  this,'  and  justly,  for 
their  ranks  included  many  who,  although  having  no  con- 
nection or  interest  in  the  church,  could  still  be  designated 
as  Christians. 

The  second  reaction  against  the  Christianity  of  the 
time  as  exemplified  in  the  churches  assumed  a  form  far 
less  violent  than  infidelity.  It  took  the  form  of  a  feeling 
of  either  indifference  or  absolute  hostility  to  the  church 
and  ecclesiasticism  although  coupled  with  loyalty  to  the 
tenets  of  Christianity.  The  group  of  persons  actuated 
by  this  feeling  undoubtedly  far  outnumbered  either  the 
infidels  or  the  active  church  members.'  The  feeling  of 
many  was  much  like  that  which  Solly  puts  in  the  mouth 
of  his  Chartist  working  man  who  says : 

None  of  us  had  any  great  love  for  "  the  cloth."  Not  that  we 
had  any  bad  feelings  towards  them,  but  I  believe  we  mostly 
thought  the  whole  Church  Establishment  was  a  matter  of 
money,  and  that  all  clergymen  did  and  said  their  doings  and 
sayings  merely  to  get  paid.  So  that  we  had  rather  a  feeling 
of  contempt  for  them  because  we  thought  them  so  uncom- 
monly like  hypocrites.  The  same  with  regard  to  religion  gen- 
erally. There  was  very  little  real  enmity  against  it,  as  far  as 
I  could  see,  among  workingmen.  We  only  thought  it  a  hum- 
bug, and  not  worth  a  sensible  man's  troubling  his  head  about.* 

The  characterization  of  Solly  is  accurate  in  all  but  one 
respect.  To  the  leaders,  and,  it  is  fair  to  infer,  a  majority 
of  their  followers,  this  attitude  seemed  too  passive.  They 
were  bitterly  opposed  to  the  State  Church  and  to  the  in- 
terpretation of  Christianity  which  actuated  all  of  the 
denominations,  and  waged  a  strenuous  campaign  in  be- 

'  The  Republican,  p.  73  ^/  seq. 

^Ibid.,  p.  76. 

'Solly,  James  W^ood ford  {London,  i88i),  i,  214. 


ig  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [482 

half  of  their  views.  The  Chartists  had  both  a  distinct 
conception  of  their  own  as  to  what  Christianity  was  and 
a  definite  program  of  church  reform. 

One  student  of  the  movement  believes  that  the  ma- 
jority of  Chartists  belonged  to  the  State  Church.'  But 
to  infer,  as  he  does,  that  such  is  the  case  because  they 
attended  the  parish  church  on  occasion  is  erroneous.  One 
clergyman  upon  such  a  visit  went  so  far  as  to  tell  them 
that  their  coming  to  a  church  was  something  out  of  the 
ordinary.*  It  seems  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  the 
Chartists,  while  a  majority  were  decided  believers  in 
Christianity,  were  indifferent  toward  all  the  churches. 

The  Chartist  leaders  were  drawn  from  all  denomina- 
tions. Among  the  infidels  were  numbered  Hetherington, 
Watson,  Carlile,  Holyoake  and  Walter  Cooper.  The 
Established  Church  of  England  contributed  Charles 
Westerton,  Dr.  Arthur  S.  Wade  and  Rev.  Thomas  Spen- 
cer; the  Established  Church  of  Scotland,  Rev.  Patrick 
Brewster ;  and  the  Secessionists,  Dr.  John  Ritchie.  Giles 
was  a  Baptist,  Miall  a  Congregationalist,  O'Malley  a 
Catholic.  Sturge  and  Pierce  were  Quakers.  Rev.  J.  R. 
Stephens  started  as  a  Methodist  minister,  was  expelled 
for  his  activities  in  promoting  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State,'  and  continued  as  pastor  of  three  chapels  near 
Ashley  built  by  the  workingmen  there,*  800  of  the 
members  of  his  circuit  having  seceded  with  him. 
Thomas  Cooper  as  a  young  man  was  a  Methodist  local 
preacher.  During  the  Chartist  period  he  drifted  to  in- 
fidelity, but  eventually  returned  to  Christianity  and  be- 

•Dierlamm,  £Hg  FlugschrifUnliteratur  der  Chartistenbewegung  und 
ihr  Widerhallin  der offentlichen  Meinung  (Leipzig,  1909),  p.  60. 
'  Dr.  Whittaker's  Sermon  to  the  Chartists,  p.  14. 
•Smith,  History  of  Methodism,  bk.  viii,  ch,  ii. 
*  Gammage,  History  of  the  Chartist  Movement ,  p.  56. 


483]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH       19 

came  a  minister  of  the  Baptists.'  Joseph  Barker,  born 
and  educated  a  Wesleyan  Methodist,  forsook  that  church 
for  the  Methodist  New  Connexion,  from  which  he  was 
expelled  on  doctrinal  grounds."  He  became  a  Unitarian, 
later  a  deist,  but  finally  he  too  returned  to  Christianity. 
Lovett's  mother  was  a  Methodist,  while  he  himself  was 
for  a  short  while  a  Bryanite  (Methodist  Bible  Christian ).3 
A  defender  of  Christianity,*  he  belonged  to  no  church. 
When  asked  by  the  chaplain,  on  his  admission  to  prison, 
what  was  his  religion,  he  answered  that  he  "  was  of  that 
religion  which  Christ  taught,  and  which  very  few  in  au- 
thority practice  "  if  he  might  judge  from  their  conduct.* 
O'Neill  in  his  later  life  became  a  Baptist  minister^  as  did 
Vince.  Vincent,  while  not  a  member,  was  a  frequent  at- 
tendant in  Quaker  meetings  and  active  in  their  work.' 
Henry  Solly  and  W.  J.  Fox  were  both  prominent  Chart- 
ists and  leading  Unitarian  ministers. 

II  Chartism   and  Christianity 

A.    THE  chartist  INTERPRETATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Although  the  English  Chartist  was  a  stranger  to  the 
church,  he  was,  as  a  rule,  familiar  with  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  soon  came  to  entertain  some  definite  ideas  in 
regard  to  Christianity.  He  reduced  it  to  a  formula  simple 
but    practical.     He   emphasized  only   the  social  aspect, 

*  Cooper,  Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,  2nded,  (London,  1872),  pp.  81,  82. 

*  New  History  of  Methodism  (London,  1909),  i,  525. 

'  Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles  of   William  Lovett  in  His  Pursuit  of 
Bread,  Knowledge,  and  Freedom  (London,  1876),  pp.  7,  22. 
^ Ibid.,  p.  35. 
^Ibid.,  p.  229. 

*  Gammage,  op.  cit.  p.  402. 
''Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.,  Iviii,  p.  359. 


20  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [484 

Christianity  in  his  mind  being  comprised  largely  in 
Matthew  xxii,  39;  xxv,  and  similar  sections.  These  he 
took  seriously.  "  If  one  thing  is  more  certain  than 
another, "  said  one,  "  it  is  this,  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
Christians  to  labour  for  the  welfare  of  their  fellow- 
men."*  The  typical  Chartist  viewpoint  was  similar  to 
that  of  Lovett,  who  said  he  had  come  "  to  look  upon 
practical  Christianity  as  a  union  for  the  promotion  of 
loving  kindness  and  good  deeds  to  one  another,  and  not 
a  thing  of  form  for  idlers  to  profit  by,  who  in  their 
miserable  interpretation  of  it  too  often  cause  men  to 
neglect  the  improvement  of  the  present  in  their  aspira- 
tions of  the  future." " 

If  Christianity  could  be  reduced  to  a  matter  of  the 
Golden  Rule  ^  what  was  the  use  of  forms  and  ceremonies, 
of  priests  and  masses  ?  Why  worry  about  creeds  when 
the  commands  for  action  were  so  plain?  It  was  not 
more  churches  that  England  needed,  they  thought,  but 
an  "increase  of  pure,  practical  and  undefiled  religion," 
for  "church  going  is  but  a  means  to  an  end."*  What  is 
necessary  to  regenerate  the  world,  says  Alton  Locke, 
"  is  not  more  of  any  system  good  or  bad,  but  simply 
more  of  the  Spirit  of  God."^  Consequently  when  the 
Chartists  essayed  themselves  to  put  their  hands  to  the 
task  of  organizing  and  running  a  church,  they  eliminated 
creeds,  as  such,  although  retaining  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  put  the  entire  emphasis  upon  good 
works.^ 

'  The  People,  pp.  19,  20. 

*  Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles,  p.  35. 
'  Chartist  Circular,  p.  5. 

*  Livesey's  Moral  Reformer,  p.  133. 
'P.  105. 

*  Vide  infra,  p.  42  <?/  seg. 


485]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH      2 1 

The  more  they  studied  the  words  of  Christ,  the  more 
they  were  struck  with  the  illogicality  of  the  situation  as 
it  existed.  The  Established  Church  with  its  vast  wealth, 
highly  paid  functionaries  and  elaborate  ceremonial  ap- 
peared to  them  the  very  antithesis  of  Christianity ;  while 
the  Dissenters,  engrossed  in  endless  differences  over 
doctrine  and  church  government,  and  generally  aloof  to 
the  needs  of  social  amelioration  at  their  doors,  seemed 
equally  astray.  How  any  professing  Christian  could 
remain  indifferent  to  the  miserable  condition  prevalent 
among  the  manufacturing  and  agricultural  poor  was  to 
the  Chartist  a  mystery.  But  not  only  was  the  church 
indifferent  to  their  state  but  it  was  accused  of  joining 
hands  "with  bloodthirsty  and  deceitful  men  to  render 
their  misery  complete  and  irremediable."^ 

What  the  Chartists  wanted  to  see  on  the  part  of  pro- 
fessing Christians  was  some  practical  demonstrations  of 
the  social  teachings  of  Christ  which  should  take  the  form 
of  an  effort  to  improve  their  lot.  Nor  was  it  charity 
they  demanded  so  much  as  justice.'  Christ  and  Christi- 
anity to  them  meant  the  "  lifting  of  heavy  burthens  and 
bringing  them  freedom  and  justice  as  well  as  soup-tickets 
and  tracts."  3 

Once  granted  that  the  mission  of  Christianity  was  to 
bring  to  them  freedom  and  social  justice,  the  only  ques- 
tion remaining  to  be  settled  was  how  this  object  could 
be  best  promoted.  The  English  workingman  had  de- 
cided that  the  only  hope  lay  in  the  People's  Charter. 
The  natural  sequence  was  that  Chartism  was  therefore 
divine  and  ordained  of  God.*     "  Study  the  New  Testa- 

'  Stephens,  Sermon  on  Kenningion  Common  (London,  1839),  p.  20. 

'Solly,  James  Woodford,  i,  213. 

^Ibid.,  I,  227,  238. 

*  Chartist  Circulat ,  preface,  iv  ;  pp.  i,  5,  9,  32,  197. 


22  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [486 

ment — it  contains  the  elements  of  Chartism,"  exhorted 
one  paper.'  The  conception  of  the  connection  between 
the  question  of  the  franchise  and  Christianity  not  only 
took  strong  hold  of  the  workingman,  but  it  was  one 
influence,  if  not  the  chief  one,  in  winning  for  the  Chart- 
ists what  little  aid  they  received  from  the  middle  classes. 
It  was  the  actuating  motive  of  the  so-called  "  political 
preachers,"  like  Stephens,  Spencer  and  Parsons  and 
furnished  the  ordinary  theme  for  the  sermons  of  the 
Christian  Chartist  Churches.  Joseph  Sturge,  the  leader 
of  the  Complete  Suffrage  movement,  the  single  concerted 
middle-class  eflfort  in  behalf  of  the  Charter,  was  brought 
to  take  an  active  part  through  this  influence.  "  It  is  a 
distinguishing  and  beautiful  feature  of  Christianity,"  said 
he,  "  that  it  leads  us  to  recognize  every  country  as  our 
country,  and  every  man  as  our  brother ;  and  as  there  is 
no  moral  degradation  so  awful,  no  physical  misery  so 
great  as  that  inflicted  by  personal  slavery,  I  have  felt 
it  my  duty  to  labour  for  its  universal  extinction." " 
"Nothing  is  more  certain,"  says  his  biographer,  "than 
that  what  was  called  the  Chartism  of  Joseph  Sturge 
sprung  directly  from  his  Christianity."  ^  It  was  also  the 
keynote  of  the  work  of  Edward  Miall  in  his  editorials 
on  universal  suffrage.  The  address  of  the  "  Council  of 
the  National  Complete  Suffrage  Association  to  Political 
Reformers  of  all  Shades  of  Opinion,  "  calling  upon  them 
in  September,  1842,  to  elect  representatives  to  a  conven- 
tion, is  remarkable  in  that  it  acts  under  "  that  great 
Christian  obligation "  which  "  calls  upon  all  men  to 
assist  in  freeing  their  brethren  from  the  powers  of  the  op- 

'  Chartist  Circular,  p.  222. 

'Richard,  Memoirs  of  Joseph  Sturge  (London,  1864),  p.  299. 

•TWflf.,  p.  325, 


487]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH      23 

pression  "  and  addresses  them  as  "  men  and  Christians," 
desiring  not  to  arouse  their  passions  but  simply  to 
"  awake  the  nobler  feelings  of  justice,  humanity  and 
Christian  duty  " ' 

But  the  Chartists  approached  the  fact  that  universal 
suffrage  was  based  "  on  the  revealed  word  of  God  " '  from 
still  another  angle.  They  attempted  to  prove  the  "  di- 
vine origin  of  Hberty  "  from  the  laws  of  nature  as  ordained 
by  God,  and  sought  to  prove  from  the  Scriptures  that 
"  a  simple  democracy  was  the  only  order  of  government " 
instituted  by  God. 3  As  expressed  on  one  of  their  banners  : 
"  Every  man  is  born  free:  God  has  given  to  all  men  equal 
rights  and  equal  liberties."* 

Neither  of  these  conceptions  was  original.  The  belief 
in  the  divine  origin  of  liberty  was  much  older  than  Chart- 
ism, while  the  idea  of  finding  a  basis  for  political  beHefs 
in  Christianity  of  course  was  not  confined  to  the  Chart- 
ists. Quotations  from  the  Bible  furnished  to  their  op- 
ponents some  strong  weapons. 

B.    CHRISTIANITY  AND  POLITICS 

Having  convinced  themselves  that  democracy  was 
ordained  of  God,  and  that  loving  one's  neighbors  as 
oneself  was  vitally  connected  with  political  justice,  it 
seemed  to  the  Chartist  that  the  professing  Christian  was 
in  duty  bound  to  do  his  utmost  to  advance  his  cause.  If 
it  was  the  duty  of  Christian  laymen  to  aid  in  the  political 
emancipation  of  the  proletariat,  in  a  how  much  greater 
degree  was  it  the  business  of  their  leaders,  the  clergy 
and  pastors,  the  recognized  expounders  of  the  truths  of 
Christianity ! 

'  Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles,  p.  276,  et.  seq. 

*  Chartist  Circular,  p.  9.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  i. 

*Dolleans,  Le  Chartisme  (Paris,  1912),  ii,  466. 


24  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [48S 

But  this  view  again  brought  them  into  direct  antago- 
nism with  the  church.  The  simple  process  of  reasoning 
which  carried  the  Chartists  to  their  conclusion  as  to  the 
duty  of  a  Christian  had  no  weight  with  the  latter  in 
regard  to  political  matters.  A  peculiar  and  widely  held 
doctrine  had  taken  hold  of  early  nineteenth-century 
Christianity  in  England  to  the  effect  that  it  was  "  wrong 
for  a  Christian  to  meddle  in  political  matters."*  To 
concern  oneself  with  politics  was  almost  sure  to  result 
in  contamination  and  was  always  fraught  with  danger  to 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  participant."  All  of  the  de- 
nominations were  particularly  careful  to  disavow  any 
political  affiliation  and  he  who  was  least  concerned  with 
the  "  affairs  of  this  world "  was  considered  the  most 
saintly  and  worthy  of  emulation.  To  be  indifferent  to 
political  interests  was  considered  a  mark  of  piety. 

Although  this  feeling  that  there  was  something  antag- 
onistic between  Christianity  and  politics  was  prevalent  in 
all  of  the  churches,  it  found  its  greatest  exponents  among 
the  Wesleyan  Methodists.'  "  It  is  no  business  of  ours 
as  '  men  of  God '  who  have  dedicated  ourselves  to  a 
kingdom  which  *  is  not  of  this  world,'  "  affirmed  the  Con- 
ference of  1836,  "to  be  very  eager  or  prominent  in 
drawing  out  these  great  principles  to  what  we  deem 
right  political  conclusions."  *  For  a  Methodist  minister 
to  engage  in  political  controversy  was  to  act  "  contrary 
to  his  peculiar  calling  and  solemn  engagements."  *  Even 
the  Congregationalists,  unencumbered,  as  were  the  Meth- 

'  Reformer  s  Almanac,  p.  284. 

^Epistles  from  the  Yearly  Meetings  of  Friends,  ii,  303,  332. 
*Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles,  p.  244  ;  Davison,  Life  of  the  Venerable 
William  Clowes  (London,  1854),  p.  241. 

*  Minutes,  viii,  105.     See  also  pp.  237,  242  ;  x,  260. 
^Minutes,  ii,  185. 


489]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH 


^D 


odists,  by  conservative  traditions,  hastened  in  1841  to 
disclaim  any  possible  political  affiliation  or  interest,  after 
a  session  of  the  Congregationalist  Union  devoted  largely 
to  a  discussion  of  this  subject,'  and  the  editor  of  the 
Congregationalist  asserted  that  as  regards  the  redress 
of  civil  grievances  "  Christian  ministers  have  no  especial 
concern,  and  Christian  churches  and  congregations,  as 
such,  no  proper  concern  at  all," '  The  maintenance  of 
Christian  virtues,  says  the  Yearly  Conference  of  Friends, 
*'  is  much  endangered  by  yielding  to  political  excitement." ' 
Deeply  grounded  as  was  the  feeling  that  the  effect  of 
politics  was  detrimental  to  religion,  it  was  still  not  so 
strong  but  that  most  of  the  churches  were  willing  to  be 
contaminated  a  bit  when  their  interests  were  seen  to  be 
endangered.  The  Established  Church  worked  effectually 
through  their  representatives  in  the  House  of  Lords  and 
other  innumerable  avenues ;  the  Methodists  maintained 
after  1803  a  "  Committee  of  Privileges,"  whose  duty  it 
was  to  look  after  those  matters  pertaining  to  the  civil 
rights  of  their  people,  while  after  1832  the  dissenting 
churches  had  many  friends  in  the  Lower  House.  The 
political  power  of  the  Dissenters  was  never  shown  more 
effectively  than  in  1843  when  they  successfully  opposed 
the  educational  clause  in  Lord  Graham's  Factory  Bill. 
By  the  time  of  the  Chartist  period,  however,  the  objec- 
tion to  active  political  participation  on  the  part  of  the 
clergy  was  beginning  to  break  down.  The  Anti-Corn 
Law  League  succeeded  in  interesting  several  hundred 
ministers  in  their  cause  and  in  holding  a  conference  of 
ministers  of  religion   in  Manchester  on  behalf  of  cheap 

'Waddington,  Congregational  History  1800-1850  (London,  1878),  p. 
553. 
^Ibid.,  p.  573. 
*  Epistle  From  the  Yearly  Meetings  of  Friends,  ii,  303. 


26  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [490 

grain.  Ministers  of  all  denominations  participated,  in- 
cluding even  one  each  from  the  Established  Church  of 
Scotland  and  the  Wesleyan  Methodists.' 

The  viewpoint  of  the  churches  that  political  matters 
were  not  to  be  compared  in  importance  to  the  things 
immediately  pertaining  to  salvation*  was  not  shared  by 
the  Chartists.  Christianity  was  to  them  above  all  prac- 
tical, something  that  must  be  carried  into  every  walk  of 
life.  Furthermore  there  was  no  possibility  of  divorcing 
it  from  political  science.  Thus  Rev.  William  Hill,  editor 
of  the  Northern  Star,  in  a  lecture  said : 

Politics,  then,  is  the  science  of  human  government.  It  is  a 
science  that  teaches  men  their  rights,  and  the  best  way  of 
exercising:  them,  and,  digging  deep  into  the  foundation  of  this 
science,  it  may  be  considered  as  an  essential  but  much  neglected 
branch  of  Christian  ethics.  We  are  commanded,  for  example, 
to  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves  ;  this  has  usually  been  con- 
sidered as  applying  to  our  duty  so  far  as  the  exercise  of 
charity  is  concerned;  but  this  command  is  universal  in  its 
application,  whether  as  friend,  Christian  or  citizen.  A  man 
may  be  devout  as  a  Christian,  faithful  as  a  friend,  but  if  as  a 
citizen  he  claims  rights  for  himself  he  refuses  to  confer  upon 
others,  he  fails  to  fulfill  the  precept  of  Christ ;  taking  this  view 
of  politics  what  an  important  view  does  it  give  this  subject, 
compared  with  the  narrow,  partizan  ideas  usually  associated 
with  the  term.* 

But  the  typical  Chartist  went  through  the  evolution  of 
mind  similar  to  that  described  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Bar- 
ker who  said : 

'Prentice,  History  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League  (London,  1835), 
vol.  i,  pp.  233  et  seq. 

*  Meth.  Minutes,  viii,  96. 

*  The  Life  Boat,  vol.  i,  no.  4. 


491]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH       oj 

Formerly  I  thought  it  wrong  for  a  Christian  to  meddle  in 
political  matters.  Formerly  I  thought  it  the  duty  of  Chris- 
tians to  unite  themselves  together  in  churches,  to  shut  them- 
selves out  from  the  world,  to  constitute  themselves  a  little 
exclusive  world,  and  to  confine  their  labours  to  the  govern- 
ment of  their  little  kingdom  and  to  the  increase  of  the  num- 
bers of  its  subjects.  I  now  think  differently.  I  have  no  faith 
in  church  organizations.  I  believe  it  my  duty  to  be  a  man  ; 
to  live  and  move  in  the  world  at  large  ;  to  battle  with  evil 
wherever  I  see  it,  and  to  aim  at  the  annihilation  af  all  corrupt 
institutions  and  at  the  establishment  of  all  good,  and  gener- 
ous, and  useful  institutions  in  their  places/ 

The  most  striking  attempt  of  the  Chartists  to  associate 
politics  and  religion  was  in  the  Christian  Chartist 
Churches,  where  Christianity  and  radical  politics  were 
brought  together  and  believed  to  be  inseparable.'  But  it 
was  not  confined  to  these.  Solly  tells  of  a  friend  of  his, 
a  Chartist  lecturer  by  the  name  of  Clarke,  who  on  his 
tours  alternated  his  political  lectures  with  sermons.^ 

It  was  the  attempt  to  associate  Christianity  with 
practical  politics  that  was  chiefly  responsible  for  the 
great  popularity  of  the  few  preachers  who  were  willing 
to  brave  the  storm  of  public  abuse  and  calumny  which 
was  associated  with  the  term  "  political  preacher."  The 
Rev.  J.  R.  Stephens  was  the  most  famous  of  this  class. 
The  effect  of  his  discourses  upon  the  multitudes  who, 
**  after  a  week  of  toil  would  stand  for  hours,  regardless 
of  comfort  and  health,  while  the  rain  fell  in  torrents — to 
hear  the  exhortations  fall  from  his  lips  "  ♦ — can  hardly  be 

^Reformer's  Almanac,  p.  284. 
'  Vide  infra,  p.  42  etseq. 

'Solly,  These  Eighty  Years  (London,  1893),  vol.  i,  p.  385. 
*  Stephens,  Sermon  Preached  on  Shepherd  and  Shepherdess  Fields 
(1839),  introduction. 


28  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [492 

imagined.  Gifted  with  great  eloquence,  his  intense 
bitterness  toward  the  factory  system  and  the  New  Poor 
Law  often  led  him  into  extravagant  statements  of  the 
most  inflammatory  kind/  which,  printed  in  the  Northern 
Star  and  distributed  in  pamphlet  form,  gave  to  him  an 
influence  upon  the  Chartist  movement  in  its  early  stages 
hardly  exceeded  by  O'Connor  himself.  Another  gifted 
preacher  of  this  class  was  Eustace  Giles,  a  prominent  Bap- 
tist, who  was  spoken  of  as  "one  of  the  pioneers  who 
believed  that  it  is  often  needful  to  be  political  in  order 
to  give  expression  to  one's  religious  convictions." ' 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Spencer,  Church  of  England  clergyman, 
and  the  Rev.  Henry  Solly,  Unitarian,  both  pamphleteers 
and  preachers,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Barker  and  Rev.  William 
Hill,  editors  and  lecturers,  were  other  political  preachers 
who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  Chartist  movement. 
Many  more,  including  such  names  as  Edward  Miall 
and  James  Scholefield,  could  be  added  to  the  list.  The 
**  political  preacher,"  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term, 
first  came  into  prominence  in  the  agitations  incidental  to 
the  Anti-Corn  Law  and  Chartist  movements. 

III.    ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHARTISTS  TOWARD  THE  CHURCH  AND 

CLERGY 

The  bitterness  of  the  Chartists  towards  the  churches  and 
clergy,  especially  those  of  the  State  Church,  approached 
almost  of  unanimity.  The  periodical  and  pamphlet  liter- 
ature and  the  reported  speeches  are  full  of  the  severest 
condemnation.  The  Established  Church  is  described  as 
"  ungodly  "  and  "  plundering,"  3  as  ''  villainous,"  *  as  "  old 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  55  et  seq. 

^Carlile,  Story  of  the  English  Baptists  (London,  1905),  p.  231. 

*  Reformer's  Almanac,  p.  19.  *  Reformer's  Companion,  p.  19. 


493]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH      29 

mother  hypocrisy,"  "  hatch  houses  of  fraud  and  hypocrisy  " 
and  "  this  country's  neglected  curse,"  ^  as  a  "  superstitious 
Old  Hog,"  "  an  administration  of  Atheism  "  and  "  a  system 
of  vile  priestcraft,  encouraged  by  the  aristocracy,  for  the 
plunder  of  the  church  revenues,  and  for  the  keeping  of  the 
people  in  a  state  of  ignorance  and  suitable  slavery  and 
debasement,"  ^  as  "  the  most  corrupt  and  oppressive  in- 
stitution in  Europe,"  *  and  as  "  one  of  the  greatest  bul- 
warks of  despotism,  and  barriers  of  freedom  in  the  annals 
of  our  country,"  whose  "  course  has  been  one  of  mischief, 
cruelty  and  plunder."  *  The  clergy  are  characterized  by 
The  People  as  "  reckless  perjured  liars,"  "  vile  infernal 
cheats,"  "  ministers  of  the  Devil,"  "  blasphemers  of  God," 
"  teachers  of  fables,"  "  preachers  of  licentiousness,"  "  anti- 
christs." ^  McDouall  refers  to  them  as  "infidels,"  "proud," 
"  rapacious,"  "  cruel,"  "  ambitious,"  "  fraudulent,"  and 
"  hypocritical."  '  The  Reformer's  Companion  calls  them 
"  vile,"  ^  and  the  Weekly  Adviser  "narrow  souled,  ignorant, 
unreasoning,"  and  "  a  positive  disgrace  to  English  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  people."  *  The 
National  denounces  them  as  "  a  sable  society  of  gentlemen, 
wearing  broad  hats  and  deep  garments ;  who  possess  a  great 
part  of  the  wealth  and  power  in  the  world,  and  would  have 
all,  as  a  reward  for  keeping  mankind  in  decent  ignorance 
and  bondage."  ® 

*  McDouall's  Chartist  and  Republican  Journal,  p.  34. 

*  Carlile,  An  Address  to  that  Portion  of  the  People  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  calling  Themselves  Reformers,  on  the  Political  Excitement 
of  the  Present  Time,  p.  6. 

*  Leach,  The  Workingman's  Argument  in  Favor  of  the  Charter,  p.  8. 

*  Evenings  with  the  People,  p.  2.  '  The  People,  p.  10. 

«  McDouall's  Chartist  and  Republican  Journal,  p.  149.    Vide  also  Re- 
former's Companion,  p.  19,  and  Reformer's  Almanac,  p.  19. 
^  Reformer's  Companion,  p.  191. 

*  Weekly  Adviser  and  Artisan's  Companion,  p.  161. 
'  The  National,  p.  241. 


30  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [494 

Although  the  dissenting  churches  were  not  the  recipients 
of  such  wholesale  and  unqualified  abuse  as  was  the  State 
Church  they  did  not  wholly  escape.  The  Wesleyan  Method- 
ists were  in  particularly  bad  favor  among  reformers.  It 
was  a  simple  matter  for  the  radicals  of  that  period  to  ac- 
count for  the  enmity  of  the  Establishment  but  the  fact  that 
the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  whose  constituency  was  largely 
amongst  the  poorer  classes,  could  steadfastly  set  their  faces 
against  all  political  reform  was  incomprehensible  and  called 
down  the  severest  censure  upon  their  administration  and  atti- 
tude. Gammage  asserts  "  that  if  there  is  a  body  of  men 
in  England  who  are  in  the  service  and  uphold  the  principles 
of  despotism,  that  body  is  the  Wesleyan  Conference  ",^ 
which  he  describes  as  a  "  solemn  hypocritical  conclave."  ^ 
Barker  characterized  the  "  Methodist  preachers  as  a  body  " 
as  "  afraid  of  liberty  in  all  its  forms  "  ^  and  the  denomina- 
tion as  doing  much  harm  by  upholding  the  tyranny  of  the 
national  government  and  "  prejudicing  its  members  against 
Reformers;  against  the  advocates  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness; and  by  representing  the  friends  of  truth,  of  justice, 
and  of  liberty,  as  infidels  and  anarchists."  *  Ebenezer 
Elliott,  who  never  got  over  the  fact  that  the  Wesleyan 
Methodists  were  the  only  dissenting  church  which  would  not 
participate  actively  in  the  Anti-Corn  Law  agitation,  cele- 
brated their  degeneracy  in  rhyme.' 

*  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  55,  56.  *  Ibid.,  p.  56. 
'  The  People,  vol.  ii,  p.  33. 

*  Reformer's  Almanac,  p.  370. 

<*  "  Ask  ye  if  I,  of  Wesley's  followers  one, 

Abjure  the  home  where  Wesleyans  bend  the  knee? 
I  do — because  the  spirit  thence  is  gone; 
And  truth,  and  faith,  and  grace  are  not,  with  me, 
The  Hundred  Popes  of  England's  Jesuitry." 

The  Ranters,  vol.  i,  p.  145  of  the  1830  ed.  of  his  poems. 


495]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH      31 

The  indictment  formulated  by  the  Chartists  against  the 
English  clergy  was  a  formidable  one.  They  were,  in  the 
first  place,  accused  of  neglect  of  duty,  especially  as  regards 
their  poorer  parishioners. 

We  ask  [said  Stephens],  whether  the  ministers  of  religion  in 
these  times  of  savage  and  relentless,  of  stiffnecked  and  auda- 
cious tyranny,  have  faithfully  discharged  the  duties  of  their 
holy  office?  They  have  not.  Instead  of  pleading  the  cause 
of  the  poor,  they  have  joined  the  league  against  them.  They 
have  shared  in  the  murderous  assault  and  are  dividing  the 
spoil.^ 

It  was  maintained,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  clergy  neither 
taught  the  true  Christianity  nor  exemplified  it  in  their 
lives.  O'Brien  found  "  almost  every  doctrine  of  holy  writ 
falsified  "  in  their  lives  ^  while  Carlile  held  that  the  church 
had  "  no  authority  for  (its)  present  proceedings  in  the 
Bible."  ^  Stephens  affirmed  that  if  the  Gospel  were  "  fairly, 
impartially,  divinely  preached  in  England  for  seven  days, 
the  end  of  the  seventh  day  would  behold  the  end  of  social 
tyranny  as  it  afflicts  the  people."  *  Thirdly,  the  Chartists 
found  the  church  and  clergy  hostile  to  reform  and  accused 
them  of  deliberately  using  their  influence  to  retard  progress 
and  to  keep  the  people  in  ignorance  and  superstition. 
Spencer, himself  a  Church  of  England  clergyman, admitted 
that  "  all  who  advocate  the  removal  of  abuses  are  described 
as  enemies  of  the  church  "  and  all  political  reformers,  "  find- 

1  The  People's  Magazine,  p.  180,  and  vol.  ii,  p.  27.  Vide  also,  Ste- 
phens, Sermon  on  Kennington  Common,  p.  25 ;  Is  There  One  Law  for 
the  Rich  and  One  for  the  Poor,  by  a  Workingman ;  McDouall's  Chartist 
and  Republican  Journal,  p.  149. 

*  McDouall's  Chartist  and  Republican  Journal,  p.  149. 
'  Carlile,  Address,  p.  6. 

*  Stephens,  Sermon  Preached  on  Shepherd  and  Shepherdess  Field,  p.  6. 


32  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [496 

ing  the  church  standing  in  the  way  of  every  reform,  desire 
its  removal  in  order  that  they  may  obtain  an  extension  of 
the  suffrage  and  a  reformed  Parliament,  equitable  taxation 
and  just  laws."  ^ 

You  uniformly  prostitute  religion  to  the  maintenance  of  civil 
tyranny  [said  O'Brien  in  a  letter  to  the  Established  Church 
parsons,  and  continued:]  They  (the  people)  see  that  holy  writ 
abounds  from  one  end  of  the  volume  to  the  other  in  denuncia- 
tion against  usury  and  tyranny,  and  in  threats  of  divine  ven- 
geance against  oppressors  of  all  kinds,  and  yet  in  the  teeth  of 
these  denunciations  and  solemn  menaces,  they  behold  you  em- 
ploying all  the  power  of  your  craft  to  bolster  up  the  system.* 

To  maintain,  as  the  Chartists  did,  that  the  clergy  of 
England  were  remiss  in  their  duty,  that  they  did  not  preach 
Christianity,  and  that  they  were  the  upholders  of  tyranny 
was  all  very  well,  but  the  argument  remained  in  the  realm 
of  uncertainty.  On  these  points  it  was  possible  to  have 
an  honest  difference  of  opinion.  But  the  Chartists  were 
equipped  with  a  more  telling  and  practical  criticism.  The 
unequal  distribution  of  wealth  in  the  Established  Church, 
resulting  in  extraordinarily  large  incomes  for  the  bishops 
and  higher  dignitaries  and  many  sinecures,  had  been  for 
years  the  constant  theme  of  radical  reformers.*  Although 
the  reforms  of  6  and  7  William  IV,  Chapter  yy,  had  done 
something  to  remedy  the  evils,*  the  latter  were  still  suffi- 
ciently glaring,  and  the  Chartist  periodicals  never  wearied 
of  expatiating  upon  the  princely  incomes  of  the  "  servants 
of  him  who  '  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head.'  "  '     "  For  our- 

*  Spencer,  The  Pillars  of  the  Church  of  England,  p.  ii. 
'  McDouall's  Chartist  and  Republican  Journal,  p.  149. 

'  Stoughton,  Religion  in  England  (London,  1881-4),  vol.  viii,  diap.  i. 

*  Perry,  History  of  the  English  Church,  3d  Period,  p.  233. 

*  The  People,  p.  21. 


497]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH      33 

selves,"  says  the  Weekly  Adviser,  after  giving  a  list  of  the 
bishops  and  their  salaries,  "  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that  a  highway  robber  is  more  worthy  of  honour  than  any 
one  of  the  consecrated  hypocrites  named."  ^  The  estimated 
nine  million  pounds  income  per  annum  ^  of  the  Established 
Church  was  looked  upon  as  little  less  than  robbery  and  the 
Church  was  called  by  one  paper,  "  The  Pious  Pickpocket."  ^ 
"Are  you  not  paying  too  much  for  your  whistle?"  asks 
another.*  A  third  paper,  after  stating  that  a  bishop  in  a 
twelvemonth  did  but  a  tithe  of  the  duties,  judged  on  a 
basis  of  utility,  done  in  a  single  day  by  the  humblest  work- 
man in  its  own  office,  cries :  "  How  long  is  all  this  to  last?  "  ' 

IV.  PROGRAM  OF  THE  CHARTISTS  IN  RESPECT  TO  THE  CHURCH 

The  attitude  of  the  Chartists  towards  the  church  early 
crystallized  into  a  more  or  less  definite  program.  There 
must  be, first  of  all,  an  absolute  separation  of  church  and  state. 
On  this  point  there  was  scarcely  a  difference  of  opinion. 
Cooper,  Lovett,  Barker,  O'Brien  and  practically  all  the  rest 
of  the  leaders  believed  this  thoroughly.  Among  the  Chart- 
ist papers  which  strongly  advocated  it  are  to  be  numbered, 
The  Weekly  Adviser,^  The  Model  Republic,  Power  of 
Pence,  The  People,''  The  Reformer,^  The  Divinearian,  The 
English  Republic,^  Cooper's  Journal,^'^  Bronterre' s  National 

^  June  10,  1852,  p,  12. 
'  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  266. 

*  The  Weekly  Adviser,  June  10,  1852,  p.  12. 

*  The  Model  Republic,  p.  64.  ■ 

*  Power  of  Pence,  p.  49  (Dec.  2,  1848). 

*  The  Weekly  Adviser,  p.  2.  "i 

^  The  People,  p.  i. 

®  The  Reformer,  p.  i, 

«  The  English  Republic,  p.  86.  ': 

*°  Cooper's  Journal,  p.  143.  !  -!;  " 


34  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [498 

Reformer,  ^  McDouall's  Chartist  and  Republican  Journal 
and  many  more,  including  The  N otv-confarmist^  In  con- 
junction with  the  severance  of  church  and  state  the  voluntary 
principle  must  be  introduced.  "If  the  preacher  must  be  paid," 
said  Ernest  Jones,  "  let  him  be  paid  what  he  is  worth  and 
if  he  is  worthless  let  him  not  be  paid  at  all."  ^  Voluntary- 
ism should  be  accompanied  by  the  abolition  of  the  hated 
church  tithes,  the  idea  of  supporting  a  church  whose  doc- 
trines they  detested  being  especially  abhorrent  to  the  Chart- 
ists.* An  absolute  cessation  of  persecution  with  complete 
toleration  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  all  religious 
sects  was  of  course  an  integral  part  of  all  reform." 

The  radical  doctrines  with  respect  to  church  reform, 
which  had  been  informally  set  forth  many  times,"  were 
finally  given  official  sanction  at  the  Convention  of  1851, 
when  the  following  propositions  were  recommended: 

1st.     Complete  separation  of  church  and  state. 

2nd.  All  church  temporalities  to  be  declared  national  prop- 
erty, except  such  individual  endowments  as  have  been  volun- 
tarily and  legally  made. 

All  ecclesiastical  buildings,  the  cost  of  which  can  be  clearly 
shown  to  have  been  defrayed  from  national  funds,  to  belong  to 
the  state.  The  persuasion  now  using  these  edifices  to  continue 
in  the  enjoyment  of  them  on  equitable  conditions. 

3rd.     Tithes  and  church  rates  to  be  abolished. 

*  Bronterre's  National  Reformer,  Sat.,  Jan.  15,  1837,  p.  61. 
'  Miall,  Life  of  Edward  Miall,  pp.  50  et  seq. 

*  Evenings  with  the  People,  p.  28. 

*  The  Radical  Reformers  of  England,  Scotland  and  Wales  to  the 
Irish  People,  p.  2  (written  by  Lovett) ;  also  The  Weekly  Adviser,  p.  2. 

*  Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles,  p.  320;  also  The  People's  Charter  by  the 
Author  of  The  Reformer  Catechised,  etc.,  pp.  47,  48. 

*  For  the  best  examples,  see  ibid.,  pp.  47,  48,  and  Bronterre's  National 
Reformer  for  Sat.,  Jan.  15,  1837,  p.  11. 


499]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH      35 

4th.  The  state  not  to  interfere  with  the  national  policy 
of  any  church.  All  ecclesiastics  to  be  appointed  in  any  way 
their  respective  congregations  think  fit,  and  to  be  paid  volun- 
tarily by  the  congregations  that  employ  their  services. 

5th.  Ecclesiastical  licences  for  the  purpose  of  education 
unnecessary.^ 

V.    VISITS  TO  THE  CHURCHES 

The  protests  of  the  Chartists  against  the  attitude  of  the 
Established,  and  other  churches  were  not  confined  to  press 
or  platform  denunciation.  During  the  severe  government 
prosecutions  of  1839,  when  the  Chartists  found  their  right  of 
public  meeting  infringed  upon,  they  adopted  the  method  of 
assembling  on  the  Sabbath  and  attending  the  parish  churches 
in  a  body  for  the  double  purpose  of  displaying  their  num- 
bers ^  and  of  registering  their  dissatisfaction  at  the  position 
assumed  by  the  church. 

In  the  midsummer  of  1839  this  procedure  seems  to 
have  been  especially  popular.  In  July  of  that  year  the 
Chartists  at  Newcastle  "  went  in  a  body  and  filled  St. 
Nicholas  church  during  divine  service,  to  the  great  annoy- 
ance of  the  regular  attendance."  *  On  August  4th  a  body 
"  estimated  at  1,500  formed  in  procession  and  made  their 
way  to  Stockport  church;  and  immediately  on  the  doors 
being  opened,  took  complete  possession  of  the  edifice."  * 
On  the  same  day  about  4,000  visited  the  church  at  Black- 
bum.^  The  next  Sunday  at  Bolton,  "  Having  met  in  the 
New  Marketplace,  to  the  number  of  3,000  or  4,000,  at  an 
early  hour,   they  proceeded   at  half-past  nine  o'clock,   in 

» Notes  to  the  People,  vol.  i,  p.  133;  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  371. 

*  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  153. 
'Ibid.,  p.  149. 

*  Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol.  xii,  p.  301. 

*  A  Sermon  Preached  at  the  Parish  Church,  Blackburn,  Sunday,  Au- 
gust 4th,  1839,  by  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Whittaker,  D.  D,,  p.  13. 


36  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [500 

processional  order,  six  abreast,  and  in  a  few  minutes  com- 
pletely filled  the  church."  ^  About  500  men  in  the  same 
way  on  that  day  went  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.^  On  August 
i8th  Pastor  Close  preached  to  the  Chartists  at  Cheltenham  ^ 
and  on  the  next  Sunday  addressed  the  Female  Chartists  of 
the  same  place.*  On  November  17th  Rev.  Evan  Jenkins  of 
Dowlais  received  a  similar  visit.  These  visits  were  only  a 
few  of  the  actual  number  made;  for  the  idea,  as  Disraeli 
said,  had  much  affected  the  imagination  of  the  multitude.* 

The  Chartists  usually  gave  previous  intimation  to  the 
clergy  of  their  intention,*  recommending  them  to  preach 
from  such  texts  as,  "  The  husband-man  that  laboureth  shall 
be  the  first  partaker  of  the  fruits,"  "  He  who  will  not  work 
shall  not  eat,"  etc.^     The  clergy  however 

'  Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol.  xii,  p.  301.  2  /&«/. 

*  Close,  A  Sermon  Addressed  to  the  Chartists  of  Cheltenham. 

*  Close,  A  Sermon  Addressed  to  the  Female  Chartists  of  Cheltenham. 
Rev.  Francis  Close  was  one  of  the  leading  Evangelicals  of  that  period. 
An  historian  of  that  party,  in  speaking  of  him,  says :  "  The  latter 
ranked  with  Stowell  and  McNeile  as  one  of  the  orators  of  the  party, 
and  he  ruled  Cheltenham  from  his  pulpit  throne  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  wits  described  it  as  '  a  Close  borough '.  He  fought  the  local  mag^is- 
trates  and  stopped  the  races.  No  meeting  could  be  held  without  his 
permission.  '  He  was  the  Pope  of  Cheltenham,'  said  The  Times,  '  with 
pontifical  prerogatives  from  which  the  temporal  had  not  been  severed. 
In  the  bosoms  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  householders  his  social 
decrees  were  accepted  without  the  thought  of  the  possibility  of  oppo- 
sition. If  a  popular  preacher  is  to  be  presented  with  a  scepter,  it  may 
be  admitted  that  none  could  have  held  it  more  judiciously  or  more 
uprightly'."  Balleine,  G.  R.,  A  History  of  the  Evangelical  Party  (Lon- 
don, 1908),  p.  205.  iThe  two  sermons  mentioned  here  were  both  strong 
denunciations  of  Chartism  and  called  forth  in  reply  two  editorial  lead- 
ers in  the  Chartist  Circular.     Vide  vol.  i,  pp.  193,  205. 

'  Disraeli,  Sybil,  p.  375. 

«  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  153;  Whittaker,  op.  cit.,  p.  13;  Close,  Female 
Chartists,  p.  i. 
T  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  153. 


50l]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH      2,7 

chose  rather  to  preach  upon  passive  obedience,  and  the  folly 
of  looking  to  the  things  of  this  life;  a  doctrine  which  only 
served  to  exasperate  their  hearers,  v^^ho  could  not  always  be 
restrained  from  expressing  their  indignant  feelings  at  the 
hypocrisy  of  the  men  who  could  preach  this  doctrine,  while 
they  were  themselves  in  the  enjoyment  of  every  luxury.^ 

On  one  occasion 

one  clergyman  so  far  forgot  discretion  and  good  feeling  as  to 
display  his  wit  in  taking  for  his  text,  "  My  house  shall  be  called 
the  house  of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  thieves." 
The  Chartists  quitted  the  church  in  a  body  upon  its  announce- 
ment; and  thus  far  he  triumphed;  but  he  lost  an  excellent 
opportunity  of  addressing  to  them  what  might  have  benefited 
their  souls.^ 

An  excellent  example  of  the  sermons  preached  is  the 
discourse  of  Dr.  Whittaker  to  the  Chartists  at  Blackburn. 
The  latter  requested  that  he  preach  from  the  first  two  verses 
of  James  v,  "  Go  to  now,  ye  rich,  weep  and  howl  for  your 
miseries  that  are  coming  upon  you.  Your  riches  are  cor- 
rupted, and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten."  The  clergy- 
man complied  with  their  request,  and  while  admitting  that 
these  words  might  have  fitted  the  old  Romans,  asserted  that 
to  apply  them  to  the  modem  rich  would  be  "  the  height  of  in- 
justice and  the  grossest  falsehood"  and  an  "act  of  flagrant 
false  witness."  Especially  would  this  accusation  be  untrue 
of  England,  a  land  "  governed  by  equal  laws,  where  civil 
rights  and  public  guarantees  of  liberty  are  secured  too  firmly 
to  be  shaken  except  by  those  who  enjoy  their  benefit."  ^ 
Then,  leaving  the  text,  he  exhorted  the  people  to  "  meekness 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  153. 

'  Christian  Observer,  1839,  p.  574. 

'  Whittaker,  op.  cit.,  p.  9. 


38  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [502 

and  endurance  "  and  to  submission  and  obedience  to  the 
powers  that  be,  using  Romans  xiii,  1-7  and  I  Peter  ii,  13-17 
to  bolster  up  his  contentions.  Then  followed  the  usual 
tirade  against  Chartism  and  the  customary  confusion  be- 
tween it  and  infidelity,  and  it  and  socialism. 

The  clergy  had  the  courage  of  their  convictions  as  well 
as  the  Chartists.  Whittaker  coolly  told  a  crowd  of  4,000 
that  there  were  only  100  Chartists  amongst  them,  the  rest 
being  simply  a  promiscuous  crowd  attracted  by  the  public 
method  thus  used  to  gain  notoriety.^  Close,  in  his  sermon, 
said  that  this  mode  of  approach  to  the  house  of  God  was 
"  particularly  offensive  to  the  Almighty."  ^  "  Nothing," 
said  he,  "  is  more  calculated  to  raise  the  country  against 
them  or  to  awaken  the  feelings  of  any  man  who  has  any 
regard  for  religious  decency."  ^  The  Christian  Observer 
called  it  a  "  mockery  of  divine  worship  "  and  a  proceeding 
obviously  offensive  to  all  classes  of  the  community.*  It 
maintained  that  it  was  absurd  to  say  that  the  Chartists  had  as 
much  right  to  go  to  church  as  other  people  if  they  proceeded 
thither  in  an  orderly  manner.  To  allow  "  peaceful  and 
devout  worshippers  to  be  put  to  flight  by  a  revolutionary 
mob  "  was  to  obscure  true  liberty  in  technical  phrases.^ 

Although  the  Chartists  listened  in  many  cases  submissively 
enough  to  the  abuses  heaped  upon  them,  for  which  in  a 
measure  they  had  themselves  to  blame,  having  put  them- 
selves in  a  position  to  receive  them,  disturbances  ensued  quite 
often  ®  and  arrests  became  so  frequent  that  a  defense  fund 

1  Whittaker,  op.  cit.,  p.  13. 

'  Sermon  to  the  Chartists,  p.  18. 

*  Close,  Female  Chartists,  p.  22. 

*  Christian  Observer,  1839,  p.  573. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  573.    For  anti-Chartist  sermons,  vide  infra,  p.  60  et  seq. 

*  Chartists  tried  to  break  up  the  meetings  of  Rev.  Norman  McLeod. 
McLeod,  Life  of  Norman  McLeod  (Toronto,  1876),  p.  84. 


503]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH      39 

was  organized,  and  collectors  were  appointed  in  different 
towns  to  raise  subscriptions  for  the  purpose/ 

One  of  the  most  serious  disturbances  of  this  nature  oc- 
curred at  Norwich  in  November  1841  at  the  dedication  of 
a  new  church.  The  Chartists,  thinking  this  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  a  turn-out,  paraded  the  streets  with  a  band 
and  many  banners  and  proceeded  to  the  church,  which  they 
intended  to  fill  to  the  exclusion  of  every  one  else.  The 
police,  however,  prevented  this,  but  left  the  Chartists  to 
obstruct  the  passage  of  other  people  who  desired  entrance. 
When  the  bishop  arrived  he  had  to  be  literally  conveyed 
into  the  churchyard  in  the  center  of  a  body  of  police.  Dur- 
ing the  preaching  service  the  Chartist  band  played  outside 
on  the  road  to  the  great  annoyance  of  those  within.  "  Once 
or  twice,  the  door  being  opened  with  a  noise,  the  whole 
congregation  rose  in  alarm  for  some  minutes  during  the 
service."  While  the  sermon  was  being  preached  four  of 
the  Chartists  were  taken  into  custody,  a  rescue  was  at- 
tempted and  during  a  sharp  riot  in  which  several  of  the 
police  were  severely  injured,  one  regained  his  freedom. 
During  the  consecration  exercises,  Hewitt,  a  prominent 
Chartist  of  that  region,  came  up  at  the  head  of  a  band 
playing  "  God  Save  the  Queen  "  and,  making  a  halt  in 
front  of  the  church,  played  "  Old  Hundredth."  The  mayor 
and  superintendent  of  police  having  apprehended  Hewitt,  a 
general  rush  took  place  in  which  three  more  Chartists  were 
handcuffed  and  driven  to  the  station  house,  the  crowd  fol- 
lowing and  threatening  to  pull  down  the  prison.  The 
prisoners  were  heavily  fined  and,  in  default  of  payment,  com- 
mitted to  prison  at  hard  labor.  Hewitt  was  bound  over  to 
take  his  trial  at  the  sessions.^ 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  153. 

*  Anti-Socialist  Gazette,  no.  3,  p.  36,  Dec.  1841. 


40  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [504 

The  Chartists,  of  course,  did  not  confine  their  operations 
entirely  to  the  churches.  Frequently  they  succeeded  in 
monopolizing  public  meetings  by  electing  their  own  chair- 
man and  diverting  the  assemblies  from  their  original  pur- 
pose. In  particular  they  proved  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the 
Anti-Corn  Law  Leaguers,  whose  meetings  were  time  and 
time  ageiin  broken  up  by  the  Chartists.  Their  procedure 
was  either  to  elect  a  chairman  and  occupy  the  time  with 
their  own  speakers  or  else  offer  an  amendment  to  the  free- 
trade  resolution  in  favor  of  the  Charter.^ 

One  of  the  most  interesting  instances  of  this  practice 
occurred  in  December  1839  at  Carlisle.  A  meeting  was 
called  at  the  Coffee  House  by  some  of  the  leading  clergy 
and  evangelical  gentlemen, 

the  object  of  which  was  a  "  better  observance  of  the  Sabbath." 
Previous  to  the  hour  appointed  the  room  was  crowded  with 
Chartists,  and  the  original  proposers  of  the  meeting  were  hardly 
able  to  obtain  a  standing  place.  Nevertheless  they  com- 
menced business  by  moving  that  Mr.  Graham  of  Edmund- 
castle  be  called  to  the  chair.  This  was  met  by  an  amendment 
that  Hall,  one  of  their  own  body  and  keeper  of  a  pothouse  in 
Butchergate,  be  elected  chairman,  which  was  carried  by  ac- 
clamation. The  gentlemen  now  endeavored  to  retreat,  but  their 
escape  was  prevented,  by  a  crowd  of  Chartists  on  every  side, 
and  they  were  ultimately  prevailed  upon  to  remain  by  an  as- 
surance from  the  chairman  that  order  would  be  preserved,  and 
every  one  should  have  a  fair  and  patient  hearing.  So,  indeed, 
they  had — the  evangelicals  made  their  speeches,  and  Dr.  Taylor 
replied  in  a  strain  of  irony  and  abuse,  full  of  that  Chartist  elo- 
quence for  which  he  is  so  remarkable.  Then  Julian  Hardy 
and  Cardo,  and  other  members  of  the  convention  made  their 
speeches,  and  carried  two  resolutions,  directly  opposed  to  the 

'  Prentice,  History  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League,  vol.  i,  p.  192; 
Memoranda  of  the  Chartist  Agitation  in  Dundee,  p.  28;  Gammage, 
op.  cit-  p.  102. 


505]      ATTITUDE  OF  CHARTISM  TOWARDS  CHURCH       41 

purpose  for  which  the  meeting  was  convened.  They  then 
passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  gentlemen  for  their  kindness 
in  procuring  the  use  of  the  room ;  saying  that  they  had  always 
before  been  unsuccessful  in  their  application  for  it;  and  con- 
cluded by  making  a  subscription  for  the  patriot  Frost,  as  they 
styled  him.^ 

As  a  means  of  advertisement  this  method  was  undoubt- 
edly a  success.  As  a  means  of  protest  it  may  have  accom- 
plished something,  but  in  the  actual  promotion  of  the  cause 
of  the  People's  Charter  it  is  probable  that  these  interruptions 
did  more  harm  than  good,  arousing  and  strengthening,  as 
they  did,  the  prejudices  of  large  numbers  of  people. 

*  The  Chartist  Correspondence,  p.  8. 


CHAPTER  II 

Chartist  Substitutions  for  the  Prevailing 
Christianity 

I.  christian  chartist  churches 

Of  all  the  methods  used  by  the  Chartists  to  identify  their 
movement  with  Christianity  there  was  none  more  striking 
than  the  organization  of  the  "  Christian  Chartist  Churches." 
Disgusted  with  both  the  State  and  Dissenting  churches  for 
the  lack  of  sympathy  evinced  by  them  toward  their  cause 
and  convinced  that  neither  was  representing  the  true  primi- 
tive Christianity  as  taught  by  Christ,  they  attempted  to  fill 
the  gap;  and,  following  the  example  of  many  before  and 
since  under  similar  circumstances,  they  started  churches 
of  their  own. 

At  least  three  influences  were  at  work  upon  the  Chartists 
to  induce  them  to  organize  these  churches.  In  the  first 
place  there  was  the  desire  to  draw  the  people  away  from 
the  influence  of  the  old  churches,  which  were  rightly  judged 
to  be  hostile  to  their  projects.  "  Were  the  Chartists  to  do 
this,"  said  the  Circular  in  r^ard  to  the  founding  of  inde- 
pendent churches,  "  ecclesiastical  tyranny  would  soon  die  a 
natural  death,  and  clerical  domination  be  banished  from 
our  land.  One  great  obstacle  to  the  onward  progress  of  the 
present  movement  would  thus  be  put  out  of  the  way."  ^ 
In  the  second  place  there  was  the  wish  to  repudiate  and  dis- 
prove by  some  active  move  on  their  part  the  "  ecclesiastical 

'  Chartist  Circular,  vol.  i,  p.  129. 
42  [506 


507]  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  43 

bellowing  about  Chartist  infidelity."  ^  Lastly  there  was 
undoubtedly  a  sincere  longing  to  get  back  to  fundamental 
principles  and  practices.^ 

These  churches,  or,  as  Stephens  calls  them,  "  politico- 
religious  societies," '  seem  to  have  taken  their  rise  in  Scot- 
land in  the  spring  of  1840,*  perhaps  at  the  suggestion,'  at 
any  rate  with  the  enthusiastic  backing"  of  the  Chartist 
Circular,  the  official  publication  of  the  Scotch  Chartists/ 
This  publication  in  its  number  for  May  2,  1840,  prints  an 
extract  from  the  first  Chartist  sermon  preached  in  Scotland, 
the  text  being  taken  from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount :  "  Be- 
ware of  false  prophets,"  etc.  The  idea  evidently  appealed- 
to  the  people,  for  its  success  was  instantaneous.  In 
August,  1840,  the  same  paper  announced  enthusiastically  * 
that  "  they  have  now  planted  their  humble  places  of  worship 
in  almost  every  comer  of  the  land  ",  while  a  year  later 
Stephens  with  a  little  more  conservatism  testified  to  their 
increase. 

What  is  most  worthy  of  remark  in  the  establishment  of 
these  new  religious  societies  [said  he],  is  that  they  have 
sprung  up  here  and  there  from  Scotland  down  to  the 
South  of  England,  in  the  absence  of  any  previously  ar- 
ranged plan  for  their  formation,  and  without  the  assistance 
of  any  missionary  or  proselyte-maker  acting  as  the  agent  of 
some  distant  "  parent  society."  They  are  not  "  branches " 
or  "  auxiliaries  "  worked  from  a  center  but  separate  fellow- 

^  Chartist  Circular,  vol.  i,  p.  197. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  222 ;  Solly,  James  Woodford,  vol.  ii,  pp.  89  et  seq. 

s  The  People's  Magazine,  May,  1841,  pp.  159  et  seq. 

*  Chart.  Cir.,  vol.  i,  p.  129. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  no. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  no,  129,  197,  222,  226,  374. 
'  Ibid.,  Introduction. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  197. 


44  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [508 

ships  of  the  weighty  and  strong-minded  people,  who  now 
begin  in  good  earnest  to  ask  what  is  the  will  of  God  in  these 
things  that  belong  as  well  to  their  earthly  as  to  their  heavenly 
weal.^ 

Following  the  successful  operation  of  many  of  these  churches 
in  Scotland  the  idea  was  taken  up  in  England  where  it  was 
probably  introduced  by  Arthur  O'Neill,^  a  member  of  the 
first  Central  Committee  of  Scotland,^  who  established  in 
Birmingham  the  most  famous  of  the  Christian  Chartist 
Churches,*  and  also  preached  in  many  others/ 

The  services  were  held  in  private  houses,  schools,  public 
halls, — any  place  where  a  group  of  people  could  gather. 
In  West  Bromwich,  England,  one  of  the  iron  masters  him- 
self lent  O'Neill  a  large  room.®  In  these  places  lay  preach- 
ers, chosen  from  amongst  the  local  societies,  or  Chartist 
"  missionaries,"  absolutely  without  pay,  held  forth  on 
politico-religious  subjects  ^  and  administered  the  rites  of 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  and,  in  Scotland,  marriage.* 
The  usual  method  of  procedure  was  to  pick  out  some  ap- 
propriate text  from  the  Bible  after  the  manner  of  a  sermon, 
and  with  that  as  a  starting  point  launch  into  a  discussion 
of  political  and  economic  problems  attempting  to  find 
the  solution  in  the  teachings  of  Christianity.®     According 

'  The  People's  Magazine,  p.  159. 

*  Solly,  James  Woodford,  vol.  ii,  p.  89. 

*  Chart.  Cir.,  preface, 

*  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  196;  Solly,  op.  cit.,  pp.  89  et  seq.;  >SolIy,  These 
Eighty  Years,  vol.  ii,  p.  222. 

<*  Parliamentary  Reports,  1843,  vol.  xiii,  Report  of  the  Midland  Min- 
ing Commission,  paragraphs  608  et  seq. 

*  Report  of  the  Midland  Mining  Commission,  par.  608. 
^  The  People's  Magazine,  pp.  159,  160. 

*  Chart.  Cir.,  pp.  1 10,  222,  226,  374. 

*  Midland  Mining  Commission,  par.  610. 


509]  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  45 

to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Slater,  a  Wesleyan  minister  who 
calls  the  mild-mannered  and  earnest  O'Neill  "  the  wretch  "/ 
the  latter  introduced  into  his  sermon  "  unmeasured  abuse 
of  Her  Majesty  and  the  Constitution,  about  the  public  ex- 
penditure, and  complete  radical  doctrines  of  all  kinds."  * 
The  Chartists  had  their  own  hymnbooks  which  they  used 
at  these  services.^ 

The  congregations  were,  of  course,  made  up  almost  en- 
tirely of  workingmen,^  who  were,  in  Birmingham,  largely 
Baptist  and  Methodist.*  The  English  operatives  and  col- 
liers, when  they  were  anything,  were  mostly  members  of 
these  two  denominations  and  it  was  principally  from  them 
that  the  membership  of  the  Chartist  Churches  was  recruited. 
This  may  explain  to  some  extent  the  hostility  of  the 
Methodists. 

Both  Churchmen  and  Dissenters  combined  to  condemn 
these  attempts  to  return  to  primitive  Christianity,'  or,  to 
put  it  in  their  language,  an  attempt  to  set  up  "  pretended 
churches,  and  proceeding  to  dispense  pretended  sacraments, 
on  the  ground  of  a  political  creed."  ®  The  opposition  was 
due  partially  to  loss  of  membership,  but,  especially  in  the  case 
of  the  State  Church,  also  to  a  conflict  in  theory  of  or- 
ganization and  polity,  a  church  depending  entirely  upon 
lay  preachers  being  hardly  likely  to  commend  itself  to  a 

^  Midland  Mining  Commission,  par.  479. 

'  Ibid.,  par.  608. 

'  The  People's  Magazine,  May,  1841,  p,  159. 

*  Solly,  James  Woodford,  vol.  ii,  p.  90. 

^  Mid.  Min.  Com.,  par.  608  et  seq.;  English  Review,  vol.  i,  p.  70; 
Christian  Remembrancer,  vol.  v,  p.  727  \  British  Critic,  vol.  xxvii,  pp. 
340,  341. 

•  Marshall,  The  Duty  of  Attempting  to  Reconcile  the  Unenfranchised 
with  the  Enfranchised  Class,  p.  12. 


46  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [510 

priesthood  claiming  an  uninterrupted  succession  from  the 
Apostles.^ 

Yet  these  same  critics  admitted  the  success  of  the  Chart- 
ist Churches,  although  seeking  to  explain  it  by  the  reli- 
gious rather  than  the  political  element  in  their  activities.^ 
Mr.  Slater  testified  that  at  West  Bromwich  the  Chartists 
had  a  large  room  "  which  used  to  be  crowded  to  suffocation 
every  Sabbath  afternoon  from  half -past  two  to  a  quarter 
past  four."  *  In  Birmingham  by  the  assiduous  pursuit 
of  all  Christian  duties  the  Chartist  Church  was  able  to 
live  down  so  far  the  obloquy  of  its  origin  even  among  the 
Wealthy  classes  as  actually  to  obtain  contributions  from  them 
for  its  work.* 

II.    EDUCATION 

If  the  Chartists  were  dissatisfied  with  the  social  program 
of  the  churches  in  England  their  criticism  was  not  of  a 
merely  negative  character.  To  take  the  place  of  what  they 
considered  the  neglect  of  the  church  they  formulated  a  more 
or  less  distinct  plan  for  intellectual  and  social  betterment. 
In  this  program  the  education  of  the  masses  occupied  the 
foremost  place.  According  to  Lovett  the  aim  of  Chartism 
was  "  to  purify  the  heart  and  rectify  the  conduct  of  all,  by 
knowledge,  morality,  and  love  of  freedom."  '  While  the 
churches  in  England  were  squabbling  as  to  who  should  con- 
trol education,  the  Chartists  stood  out  unequivocally  for 
secular  education.'     The  Chartists  instinctively  felt  that  the 

*  Chart.  Cir.,  vol.  i,  pp.  374,  222. 

*  English  Review,  vol.  i,  p.  70;  Mid.  Min.  Com.,  par.  608  et  seq. 
'  Mid.  Min.  Com.,  par.  608. 

*  Solly,  James  Woodford,  vol.  ii,  p.  90;  Solly,  These  Eighty  Years, 
vol.  i,  p.  383. 

*  Lovett  and  Collins,  Chartism,  Introduction,  p.  9. 

*  Weekly  Adviser,  vol.  i,  p.  2 ;  Chartist  Circular,  vol.  i,  p.  72 ;  Lovett, 
Life  and  Struggles,  pp.  141,  145,  326. 


51 1  ]  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  47 

churches  were  more  interested  in  the  brand  of  religion  that 
was  to  be  imparted  to  the  children  of  the  working  classes 
than  either  the  quality  of  the  instruction  or  the  truthful- 
ness of  the  knowledge/  Even  such  a  representative  paper 
as  The  Chartist  Circular,  which  is  pervaded  with  a  decidedly 
Christian  tone,  bitterly  denounces  the  education  in  vogue. 

There  is  no  tyranny  so  paralyzing  to  the  public  mind  [it  says], 
as  the  despotism  of  priestcraft.  Wherever  an  established 
priesthood  has  existed,  the  people  have  been  mentally  and  poli- 
tically enslaved ;  and,  if  philosophy  at  any  time  has  triumphed 
over  superstition  it  was  after  long  and  bitter  struggle  with 
bigotry,  intolerance,  and  selfishness  of  ignorant  priests.  If  you 
read  the  history  of  priestcraft  in  the  dark  ages,  you  will  re- 
spond to  my  opinions.  Priests  have  never  encouraged  the 
people  to  study  the  truths  of  natural  philosophy,  or  political 
science ;  nor  have  they  taught  them  to  understand  and  demand 
their  civil,  religious  and  natural  rights.- 

The  English  working  class  became  first  thoroughly 
aroused  on  the  subject  of  education  about  1830  when  the 
agitation  for  an  "  Unstamped  Press  "  became  loud  and  per- 
sistent.* In  this  fight  to  remove  the  "  tax  on  knowledge." 
as  it  was  called,  Henry  Hetherington  and  John  Cleave  took 
the  leading  part,*  while  their  efforts  were  ably  seconded 
by  such  men  as  James  Watson,  William  Lovett,  and  Bron- 
terre  O'Brien.  The  connection  of  the  unstamped  press 
fight  with  the  Chartist  movement  is  easy  to  trace.  It  was 
Hetherington,  Cleave,  Watson  and  Lovett  who  were  later 
the  heart  and  soul  first  of  "  The  National  Union  of  the 

1  Lovett,  op.  cit,  p.  13s. 

*  Chartist  Circular,  vol.  i,  p.  72;  also  pp.  39,  40,  59;  Kingsley,  Alton 
Locke,  p.  47. 

'  Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles,  pp.  54  et  seq. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  54,  91. 


^  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [512 

Working  Classes  and  Others "/  then  of  "  The  London 
Working  Men's  Association,"  which  fathered  the  Charter. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  of  the  six  men  appointed  to 
represent  the  Working  Men's  Association  in  drawing  up  the 
Charter,  three  of  them — Hetherington,  Watson  and  Cleave 
— had  suffered  imprisonment  more  than  once  in  the  cause 
of  an  untaxed  press-^  Of  the  other  three,  Lovett  was  then 
prominently  active,  Moore  later  defended  the  same  proposi- 
tion,^ while  Vincent  was  still  too  young  to  be  conspicuous. 
Lovett  was  actually  engaged  in  educational  efforts  as 
early  as  1829,  when  he  drew  up  a  "  petition  for  the  opening 
of  the  British  Museum,  and  other  exhibitions  of  Art  and 
Nature,  on  Sundays."  *  In  183 1  the  National  Union  of  the 
Working  Classes  and  Others,  which  stood  for  universal 
manhood  suffrage,  did  valiant  service  for  the  unstamped 
press,  convinced  as  it  was  that  "  the  wide  spread  poverty,  the 
drunkenness,  vices,  and  crimes  of  society  were  clearly  traced 
to  the  absence  of  mental  and  moral  light."  ^  The  London 
Workingmen's  Association,  founded  in  1836,  which  launched 
the  People's  Charter,  had  also  as  its  objects: 

To  devise  every  possible  means,  and  to  use  every  exertion, 
to  remove  those  cruel  laws  that  prevent  the  free  circulation  of 
thought  through  the  medium  of  a  cheap  and  honest  press. 

To  promote  by  all  available  means  the  education  of  the 
rising  generation  and  the  extirpation  of  those  systems  which 
tend  to  future  slavery. 

To  form  a  library  of  reference  and  useful  information,  etc.* 

1  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  pp.  68  ei  seq. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  62. 
»  Ibid.,  p.  89. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  57.  ■■ 

*  Ibid.,  p.  134. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  93. 


513]  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  49 

The  connection  between  education  and  Chartism  prior 
to  1838  is  thus  clearly  seen.  But  even  in  the  heat  of  the 
Chartist  agitation  the  educational  side  was  not  forgotten. 
It  was  continually  kept  in  mind  by  the  little  group  of 
London  agitators  and  taken  up  with  enthusiasm  in  many 
sections.  The  Weekly  Adviser  pledges  itself  to  "  advocate 
the  establishment  of  a  national  system  of  education  on  purely 
secular  grounds."  ^  The  Reformer  says  that  "  Popular  edu- 
cation will  occupy  a  large  share  of  our  attention  'V  while 
the  Chartist  Circular  strongly  urges  upon  the  Scotch  Chart- 
ists the  advisability  of  forming  schools.^  Feargus 
O'Connor,  who  could  not  bear  to  see  anything  prosper  which 
he  did  not  originate  and  who  represented  the  worst  element 
of  the  movement,  dubbed  the  educational  efforts  of  Lovett 
and  his  friends  "  knowledge  Chartism  "  and  through  his 
great  influence  was  able  to  do  them  much  harm.* 

While  imprisoned  in  Warwick  Gaol,  Lovett  occupied  him- 
self with  writing  a  little  work  entitled  Chartism,  or  a  New 
Organisation  of  the  People,  which  was  published  under 
the  joint  names  of  Lovett  and  Collins  when  they  were  re- 
leased.    In  the  words  of  Lovett: 

The  chief  object  of  this  work  was  to  induce  the  Chartists  of 
the  United  Kingdom  to  form  themselves  into  a  National  As- 
sociation for  the  erection  of  halls  and  schools  of  various  kinds 
for  the  purpose  of  education — for  the  establishment  of  li- 
braries ;  the  printing  of  tracts ;  and  the  sending  out  of  mission- 
aries ;  with  the  view  of  forming  an  enlightened  public  opinion 
throughout  the  country  in  favor  of  the  Charter,  and  thus  better 

'  Weekly  Adviser,  vol.  i,  p.  2. 

'  The  Reformer,  p.  i. 

'  Chartist  Circular,  p.  40. 

*  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  pp.  250,  251 ;  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  196. 


50  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [514 

preparing  the  people  for  the  exercise  of  the  political  rights 
we  are  contending  for.^ 

Lovett  had  figured  out  that  if  each  person  who  signed 
the  National  Petition  would  contribute  even  less  than 
a  penny  a  week,  in  one  year  eighty  schools  at  £3,000 
each  could  be  erected,  equipped  with  playground,  pleas- 
ure gardens,  museums,  laboratories,  workshops  and  baths, 
where  lectures,  readings,  discussions,  musical  entertain- 
ments and  dances  could  be  held;  710  circulating 
libraries  at  £20  each  started;  4  missionaries  at  £200  per 
annum  employed  and  20,000  tracts  per  week  distributed.^ 
Not  a  mere  cultivation  of  the  intellect  but  a  "  judicious  de- 
velopment of  all  their  qualities  "  *  was  the  object  sought. 
The  publication  of  Chartism  was  shortly  followed  by 
an  address  "  To  the  Political  and  Social  Reformers 
of  the  United  Kingdom,"  signed  by  eighty-one  of  the 
leading  radicals  of  Great  Britain,  including  Collins, 
Hetherington,  Cleave  and  Mitchell  of  London,  urging  the 
formation  of  a  "  National  Association  of  the  United  King- 
dom "  *  to  carry  out  the  projects  embraced  in  the  pamphlet 
of  Lovett  and  Collins.  "  There  was  in  this  plan,"  says 
Gammage,  "  all  the  elements  of  the  people's  regeneration, 
supposing  it  to  be  faithfully  and  honestly  carried  out." ' 

Although  there  was  no  intention  on  the  part  of  the  pro- 
moters to  oppose  associations  already  formed/  the  project 
met  the  bitterest  opposition  from  0'Ct>nnQr ''  and  made 
but  little  headway  in  the  provinces.  It  led  in  London, 
however,  to  the  formation  of  a  body  known  as  "  The  Lon- 
don Members  of  the  National  Association,"  the  first  two 
I  . 

1  Lovett,  op.  cit,  p.  236.  2  Ibid.,  p.  249,  250. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  143.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  232,  236,  249. 

'^  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  196.  «  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  248. 
'  Ibid.,  pp.  251,  255. 


515]  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  51 

secretaries  of  which  were  Henry  Hetherington  and  Charles 
Westerton.  A  weekly  periodical,  The  National  Association 
Gazette,  was  issued  by  the  society  ^  while  in  1842  a  building 
was  rented,  in  which  a  library  was  installed,  courses  of  lec- 
tures were  delivered,  music  and  dancing  classes  organized 
and  in  1843  ^  Sunday  School  started.^  A  day  school  was 
finally  established  in  1848  through  the  generosity  of  a 
friend.* 

The  Chartists  put  themselves  officially  on  record  in  185 1 
when  in  the  convention  of  that  year  they  carried  a  pro- 
position which  "  laid  down  the  principle  of  national,  secular, 
gratuitous,  compulsory  education."  * 

Important  as  was  the  work  of  the  London  radicals  in  the 
field  of  education,  it  was  not  to  be  compared  in  extent  to  the 
salutary  effect  on  the  intellectual  life  of  the  English  pro- 
letariat of  the  great  number  of  cheap  Chartist  periodicals 
which  sprang  up  all  over  England  during  these  years,  the 
literary  standard  of  which,  everything  considered,  was  re- 
markably high.  It  should  also  be  noticed  here  that  Joseph 
Barker  was  the  editor  and  publisher  of  Barker's  Library  of 
three  hundred  volumes  on  religious,  political  and  ethical 
subjects,  which  were  up  to  that  time  the  cheapest  collec- 
tion ever  published.  Indeed  he  is  credited  with  being  the 
originator  of  cheap  literature  in  England.®  Nor  is  the  work 
on  the  lecture  platform  of  W.  J.  Fox,  Thomas  Cooper, 
William  Lovett,  Henry  Vincent,  Robert  Lowery  and  many 
others,  covering  a  long  period  of  years,  to  be  forgotten.  The 
purely  educational  effect  of  this  alone  was  considerable. 

1  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  259.  ■ ' 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  287,  288.  .  .     ■ 

3  Ibid.,  p.  334. 

*Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  371. 

5  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  vol.  iii,  pp.  205  et  seq.  This 
may  be  true  of  nineteenth-century  literature,  but  Wesley  was  a  pioneer 
in  this  field  of  the  eighteenth.   New  History  of  Methodism,  vol.  i,  p.  220. 


^2  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [516 

III.    TEMPERANCE  AND  TEETOTALISM 

Chartism  ought  not  to  be  considered  entirely  as  a  political 
movement;  it  contained  too  many  elements  which  looked  to 
the  moral  regeneration  of  the  working  classes.  Next  in 
importance  to  its  educational  phase  must  be  reckoned  its 
endeavor  to  inculcate  habits  of  temperance  and  even  tee- 
total ism. 

At  least  three  motives  contributed  to  bring  the  question 
of  temperance  to  the  front.  There  was  in  the  first  place  an 
earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  leaders  of  the 
working  class  to  rescue  their  followers  from  the  demoraliz- 
ing effects  on  health  and  morals  of  a  habit  whose  influence 
could  be  only  too  plainly  seen.^  The  time  and  energy  con- 
sumed and  the  money  wasted  in  drink  were  a  decided  im- 
pediment to  an  efficient  agitation  for  political  rights,^  while 
the  ignorance  and  crime  engendered  by  the  excessive  use  of 
alcohol  gave  some  ground  for  the  accusation  so  often  made, 
that  the  lower  classes  were  unprepared  to  exercise  the 
franchise.  Last  of  all  the  Chartists  believed  that  not  only 
did  drink  help  to  enslave  them  politically  by  debasing  them 
morally,  but  that  the  excise  duties  on  liquor  and  tobacco 
actually  furnished  sinews  of  war  to  their  oppressors.*  The 
loss  of  revenue  to  the  treasury  which  would  result  from 
abstinence  on  the  part  of  the  working  classes  from  excisable 
articles  would  in  the  minds  of  many  Chartists  be  of  sufficient 
importance  to  "  bring  the  misrule  of  our  government  to  an 
end."  *  "  We  shall  never  get  our  rights,"  says  Devildust, 
whom  Disraeli  pictures  as  an  especially  keen  Chartist  of  the 
ranks,  "  till  we  leave  off  consuming  excisable  articles."  ® 

^  Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles,  pp.  57,  95 ;  Eng.  Chart.  Cir.,  pp.  6,  23,  35, 
ftc;  Alton  Locke,  p.  84. 
'  Eng.  Chart.  Cir.,  pp.  35,  46. 
3  Ibid.,  pp.  6,  35,  40,  42,  etc. 
*  Reformer's  Almanac,  p.  238.  '  Disraeli,  Sybil,  p.  115, 


517]  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  53 

Vincent,  the  Chartist  whose  name  above  all  others  is 
connected  with  the  temperance  agitation,  sums  the  whole 
matter  up  when  he  concludes  his  "Address  to  the  Working 
Man  "  with  the  following  words: 

By  adopting  this  course,  the  habits  of  the  people  will  be  at 
once  changed.  New  hopes  and  new  desires  will  be  awakened 
in  the  breasts  of  millions — intellect  will  start  forth  to  dispute 
the  arrogant  pretensions  of  our  corrupt  rulers — the  poorest 
man  will  derive  solid  benefit — myriads  of  wives  and  children 
will  be  better  housed,  fed,  and  clad — the  people  will  become 
too  proud  to  wear  the  degraded  livery  of  a  policeman,  or  to 
enlist  as  soldiers,  to  murder  at  the  bidding  of  an  aristocrat 
their  unoffending  brothers  for  a  shilling  a  day — our  rulers 
will  be  deprived  of  an  immense  revenue — and,  to  crown  all, 
no  government  can  long  withstand  the  just  claims  of  a  people 
who  have  had  the  courage  to  conquer  their  own  vices. ^ 

In  its  connection  with  Chartism  the  agitation  for  temper- 
ance, like  that  for  education,  traces  its  beginnings  to  the 
Working  Men's  Association  of  London.  As  early  as  1829 
Lovett  began  to  take  an  active  interest  in  temperance.^ 
When  the  London  Working  Men's  Association  was  formed 
a  few  years  later  they  sought  "  to  make  the  principles  of 
democracy  as  respectable  in  practice  as  they  are  just  in 
theory,  by  excluding  the  drunken  and  immoral  "  *  and  those 
who  "  drown  their  intellect  amid  the  drunkenness  of  the 
pot  house."  *  And  lest  the  members  might  succumb  to 
temptation  they  avoided  holding  their  meetings  at  public 
houses  because  "  habit  and  associations  are  too  often  formed 
at  those  places  which  mar  the  domestic  happiness,  and  de- 

*  English  Chartist  Circular,  p.  35. 

*  Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles,  p.  57. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  94. 

*  Ihid.,  p.  95.  ' 


54  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [518 

stroy  the  political  usefulness  of  the  millions."  ^  If  no  better 
place  offered  they  were  to  meet  at  one  another's  houses.' 
Still  later  one  reason  given  for  the  founding  of  the  National 
Association  of  the  United  Kingdom  *  was  the  establishment 
of  public  halls  where  the  workingmen  "  might  be  taken  out 
of  the  contaminating  influence  of  public-houses  and  beer- 
shops — places  where  many  of  their  meetings  are  still  held, 
in  which  their  passions  are  inflamed,  their  reasons  drowned, 
their  families  pauperized,  and  themselves  socially  degraded 
and  politically  enslaved."  *  The  same  group  who  fig- 
ured so  prominently  in  educational  efforts  —  Hether- 
ington,  Cleave,  Lovett  and  Watson  —  in  January,  1840, 
established  The  Eitglish  Chartist  Circular  and  Temperance 
Advocate  for  England  and  Wales,  which  was  edited  by 
James  Harris  and  served  as  the  official  organ  for  the  Chart- 
ist Teetotal  Societies. 

Vincent,  who  was  perhaps  the  greatest  orator  which  the 
Chartist  movement  produced,^  had  during  his  imprisonment 
become  convinced  that  teetotalism  was  the  prime  requisite 
for  success  in  obtaining  the  Charter.  Upon  his  release  in 
January,  1841,  he  issued*  an  Address  to  the  Workingmen 
of  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales  in  which  he  called  upon 
them  to  adopt  the  Teetotal  Pledge  and  "  to  form  themselves 
into  Chartist  Teetotal  Societies  in  every  city,  town  and 
village."  '^  The  address  was  signed  by  many  of  the  most 
prominent  Chartists  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Vincent 
followed  it  up  by  lecture  tours  and  public  propaganda  of 

1  Lovett,  op.  cit,  p.  65.  *  Ibid.,  p.  96. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  248  et  seq, 

*  Ibid.,  p.  254. 

'^  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  11. 

•  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  vol.  Iviii,  p.  359. 
^  English  Chartist  Circular,  p.  35. 


519]  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  55 

all  kinds.  In  this  he  was  ably  aided  by  Thomas  Cooper/ 
Rev.  William  Hill,  Joseph  Barker  ^  and  others,  and  by  such 
Chartist  publications  as  the  English  Chartist  Circular,  the 
Chartist  Circular  (Scotch),^  Reformer's  Almanac*  etc. 
O'Connor  liimself  was  inclined  to  throw  ridicule  upon 
the  movement '  but  the  editor  of  his  paper,  Hill,  was 
ardently  for  it  *  and  O'Connor's  influence  was  thus  in  a 
measure  neutralized.  Vincent  and  his  followers  went  into 
the  proposition  whole-heartedly.  Temperance  and  moder- 
ate drinking  they  were  opposed  to — only  absolute  teetotal- 
ism  would  suffice. 

The  idea  of  teetotalism  took  hold  for  a  time,  at  least,  and 
during  the  early  months  of  1841  numerous  Chartist  Tee- 
total Societies  were  formed  in  England  which  sought  to 
combine  an  advocacy  of  the  principles  of  the  Charter  and 
total  abstinence.  The  reports  of  their  activities  may  be 
partially  followed  in  the  files  of  the  Chartist  Circular.  At 
the  outset  much  enthusiasm  was  manifested  and  Vincent 
refK>rted  the  administering  of  the  pledge  to  numerous  fol- 
lowers, while  Cooper  in  Leicester  succeeded  in  persuading 
several  hundreds  to  "  promise  to  abstain,  etc.,  until  the 
People's  Charter  becomes  the  law  of  the  land."  ^  Towards 
the  latter  part  of  1841  the  reports  cease  to  come  in  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  Chartist  Teetotal  Societies  declined  rapidly. 
The  work  of  the  Chartist  Teetotalers  did,  however,  con- 
tribute something  positive  to  the  cause  of  temperance  and 
the  general  moral  uplift  of  the  English  workingman. 

*  Cooper,  Life  of  Cooper,  pp.  164  et  seq. 

*  New  History  of  Methodism,  vol.  i,  p.  525 ;  The  People,  p.  I. 
3  Chartist  Circular,  pp.  285,  286. 

*  Reformer's  Almanac,  p.  238. 
"  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  196. 

*  English  Chartist  Circular,  p.  46. 
'  Cooper,  Life  of  Cooper,  p.  165. 


^6  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [520 

IV.    OTHER  REFORMS 

The  effort  "  to  generate  a  moral  stamina  in  the  ranks  of 
the  millions  "  ^  was  not  confined  to  temperance  and  educa- 
tion. Alongside  of  these  there  developed  a  higher  concep- 
tion of  the  mission  of  women. ^  In  an  address  issued  by  the 
Working  Men's  Association  to  their  "working  class  brethren 
in  America  "  Lovett  writes, 

We  seek  to  make  the  mothers  of  our  children  fit  instructors 
for  promoting  our  social  and  political  advancement,  by  reading 
and  conversing  with  them  upon  all  subjects  we  may  be  ac- 
quainted with;  and  thus  by  kindness  and  affection  to  make 
them  our  companions  in  knowledge  and  happiness,  and  not, 
as  at  present,  mere  domestic  drudges  and  ignorant  slaves  of 
our  passions.* 

Their  co-operation  in  the  struggle  for  the  Charter  was 
welcomed  and  Female  Chartist  Societies  were  formed  * 
which  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  strength  of  the  move- 
ment.*^ 

Although  chiefly  concerned  with  economic  and  political 
reforms  the  Chartists  were  nevertheless  usually  to  be  found 
in  the  forefront  of  all  progressive  agitation.  Thus  the 
movement  for  the  abolition  of  the  death  penalty  found 
warm  supporters  in  the  Chartist  ranks.'  Militarism  was 
particularly  obnoxious,  especially  to  those  who  had  en- 
joyed a  taste  of  it.  Standing  armies  were  declared  by 
the  London  Convention  of   1851  to  be  "contrary  to  the 

*  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  133. 

2  See  Lovett's  "Woman's  Mission";  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  li. 
'  Solly,  James  Woodford,  vol.  i,  pp.  75,  76. 

*  English  Chartist  Circular,  vol.  i,  p.  6, 
6  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  82,  188. 

*  Dierlamm,  Die  Flugschriftenliteratur  der  Chartistenhewegung,  p.  45 ; 
Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  Z72',  The  Reformer,  p.  i. 


52 1  ]  SUBSTITUTION  FOR  CHRISTIANITY  57 

principles  of  Democracy,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberty  of  the 
people."  ^  The  group  of  Chartist  leaders  who  were  the 
backbone  of  the  London  Working  Men's  Association  were 
ardent  pacifists.  To  Lovett,  speaking  on  behalf  of  the 
association,  war  was  but  a  "  barbarous  means  for  brutaliz- 
ing the  people  "  and  an  instrument  "  to  gratify  aristocratic 
cupidity,  selfishness,  and  ambition,"^  the  result  of  which  is  to 
lead  thousands  to  slaughter  and  to  death,  to  increase  the 
national  debt  and  leave  the  stigma  of  cruelty  and  injustice 
upon  the  national  character.  "If  war  is  the  only  path  to 
civilization,"  cried  Lpvett,  "  what  a  mockery  is  it  to  preach 
up  the  religion  of  Christ."  *  Most  of  the  arguments  of  the 
present-day  pacifists  were  known  and  used  by  the  Chartists. 
The  majority  of  the  reforms  and  innovations  advocated 
by  the  Chartists  were  obviously  laudable.  Others  were 
honestly  debatable.  None  were  actually  revolutionary. 
Their  program,  taken  broadly,  was  a  scheme  for  the  politi- 
cal, intellectual  and  moral  regeneration  of  the  masses,  and 
so  it  was  considered  by  most  of  the  reformers  of  the  day 
who,  perhaps,  might  differ  as  to  some  of  the  details.  The 
attitude  toward  the  advocates  of  these  innovations  on  the 
part  of  the  upper  and  middle  classes,  while  not  exceptional 
in  the  history  of  radical  movements,  is  an  interest- 
ing instance  of  the  mind  of  the  conservative.  The  prevail- 
ing feeling  toward  the  Chartists,  says  Solly,  was  one  of 
"  horror  and  disgust."  *  "  By  highly  respectable  and  most 
pious  folk,"  observes  Linton,  "  Chartism  was  considered 
vulgar  and  disreputable."  ®     Although  the  idea  of  the  aver- 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  371,  372. 
^Lovett,  Life  and  Struggles,  pp.  265,  266. 

»  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  307,  in  An  Apology  of  Peace  from  the  London 
Working  Men's  Association;  also  p.  320. 

*  Solly,  These  Eighty  Years,  vol.  i,  p.  345. 

*  Linton,  Memories,  pp.  75,  76. 


58  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [522 

age  Englishman  in  regard  to  Chartism  was  undoubtedly- 
very  hazy/  he  was  sure  it  was  something  evil  and  to  be 
avoided.  To  become  associated  with  "  the  lawless  demo- 
crats "  and  "  the  enemies  of  law  and  order,"  as  they  were 
frequently  called,  entailed  usually  the  loss  of  the  friend- 
ship of  former  associates  and  frequently  of  the  means  of 
livelihood  itself.^  To  advocate  political  freedom  at  a  time 
when  Europe  was  restless  with  revolution,  secular  education 
at  a  time  when  instruction  was  largely  exploited  by  sectarian 
interests,  teetotalism  when  intoxicating  liquors  were  the  or- 
dinary beverage  of  all,  and  the  separation  of  church  and 
state  at  just  the  time  when  the  influence  of  the  Oxford 
movement  was  beginning  to  make  itself  felt,  was  to  arouse 
the  bitter  antagonism  of  all  classes.  The  aristocracy  and 
bourgeoisie  found  the  whole  subject  too  painful  to  contem- 
plate and  sought  refuge  in  government  prosecutions  and  in 
the  abridgement  of  common-law  liberties.  Yet  the  Chart- 
ists, who  had  found  in  this  agitation  for  political,  economic, 
social  and  religious  reformation  a  substitute  for  religious 
enthusiasm,  firmly  believed  that  they  were  not  only  trying 
to  fulfill  the  teachings  of  Christ  but  were  actually  engaged 
in  a  work  which  rightfully  belonged  to  the  church. 

^  Parker,  A  Preacher's  Life,  p.  16. 

'  Contemporary  Review,  May,  1904,  p.  7ZZ'>  Solly,  These  Eighty  Years, 
vol.  i,  pp.  394,  398. 


CHAPTER  III 
Attitude  of  the  Churches  Toward  Chartism 

I.    the  church  of  ENGLAND 

A.  The  Church  as  a  Whole 

The  unsavory  reputation  which  the  clergymen  of  the 
Established  Church  had  acquired  amongst  the  political  radi- 
cals ^  was,  on  the  whole,  deserved.  With  even  more  vehem- 
ence than  they  had  manifested  against  the  Reform  Bill  of 
1832  they  now  took  up  the  fight  against  Chartism.  Almost  as 
one  man  they  stood  opposed  to  further  extension  of  the 
suffrage  and  the  Chartists  recognized  in  the  clergymen  of 
the  Church  of  England  their  bitterest  enemies. 

This  clerical  opposition  was  first  naturally  expressed  in  the 
most  convenient  means  at  hand.  Innumerable  sermons  were 
preached  on  such  subjects  as  "  The  Sin  of  Despising  Domin- 
ion," ^  "  Great  Britain's  Happiness,"  *  "  The  Powers  that  be 
are  Ordained  of  God,"  *  "  Obedience  to  Lawful  Author- 
ity," ^  "  Fear  God  and  Honor  the  King,"  «  etc.  Of  the 
printed  political  sermons  some  mention  Chartism  by  name 

^  Supra,  pp.  20  et  seq. 

'  Sermon  of  Rev.  John  Haigh,  M.  A.,  reviewed  in  The  People,  p.  39. 
'  Sermon  of  Rev.  iRobert  Sutton,  Canon  Redemptionary  of  Ripon, 
reviewed  in  The  People,  p.  169. 

*  Sermon  of  Rev.  J.  Slade,  of  Bolton,  reviewed  in  The  People,  p.  283. 

*  Sermon  of  Rev.  E.  B.  Were,  Ch.  of  Eng.  Mag.,  vol.  x,  p.  216. 

*  Disraeli,  Sybil,  p.  392. 

523]  59 


6o  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [524 

and  some  only  by  implication  but  all  are  "  published  with 
the  view  of  checking  the  spread  of  democratic  principles 
and  the  growth  of  democratic  feeling."  ^  They  seldom  at- 
tempt to  argue  out  the  proposition  but  are  characterized  by 
the  most  indiscriminate  denunciation  of  all  political  reform- 
ers, who  are  referred  to  as  "  children  of  the  devil ;  as  bad, 
immoral,  and  unprincipled  men;  as  filthy  dreamers,"  and  the 
like.^ 

A  number  of  sermons  were  preached  expressly  on  Chart- 
ism, usually  upon  the  visit  to  a  church  of  the  Chartists 
in  a  body.*  Some  half-dozen  of  these  sermons  were  printed 
and  had  a  large  circulation,  being  distributed  as  tracts  by 
the  Religious  Tract  Society.*  One  of  them  has  already 
been  briefly  examined,*^  It  will  suffice  to  glance  at  another, 
that  by  the  Rev.  Evan  Jenkins,  Incumbent  Minister  of  Dow- 
lais,  entitled  Chartism  Unmasked,  which,  according  to 
the  title  page,  reached  nineteen  editions.  Jenkins  begins 
by  affirming  that  "  The  doctrines  taught  and  urged  by  the 
Chartist  leaders,  are  as  diametrically  opposed  to  the  doc- 
trines revealed  in  the  eternal  word  of  God,  as  the  North  is 
to  the  South."  ^  "  The  Chartist  leaders,"  says  he,  "  preach 
and  teach  the  doctrine  of  '  equality ' ;  but  we  have  no  such 
doctrine  taught  us  by  the  Book  of  Nature  or  the  Book  of 
God."  After  illustrating  inequality  in  nature  he  shows 
how  it  exists  in  every  field  of  human  life  and  government, 
quoting  Exodus  xviii.  20,  21,  22;  Judges  11.  16;  I  Sam- 
uel II.  7;  Proverbs  viii.  15;  16;  Daniel  iii. ;  and  Romans 
XIII.   I,  to  prove  that  the  doctrine  of  "  gradations  "  has 

^  The  People,  p.  169. 

*  Ihid.,  p.  39. 

3  Supra,  pp.  35  et  seq. 

*  Chartist  Circular,  p.  193. 
5  Supra,  p.  27- 

*  Jenkins,  Chartism  Unmasked,  pp.  5  et  seq. 


^25]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  6r 

the  divine  sanction.  The  second  Chartist  doctrine  op- 
posed to  the  word  of  God,  he  continues,  is  "  the  following, 
namely,  that  poverty  is  not  the  result  of  the  everlasting 
purpose  of  a  Sovereign  God,  but  is  only  the  result  of  unjust 
human  laws,  and  of  the  oppression  of  unfeeling,  selfish, 
hard-hearted,  and  grinding  rich  men."  This  is  disproved 
also  by  the  Bible  which  says  that  "  The  poor  shall  never 
cease  out  of  the  land."  "Ask  yourself  who  is  right  and 
who  is  wrong?",  cries  Jenkins,  "the  all- wise  God  or  the 
Chartist  leaders." 

The  points  of  the  Charter  were,  in  his  mind,  easily  dis- 
posed of.  Annual  parliaments  meant  simply  "  annual 
squabbles,  annual  turmoils,  annual  upsetting  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  peace,  tranquillity,  unity  and  trade  of  the  coun- 
try." ^  Universal  suffrage  would  bring  nothing  but  uni- 
versal confusion  with  father  divided  against  son  and  the 
mother  against  the  daughter.  "  Vote  by  ballot  would  be 
nothing  but  a  law  for  rogues  and  knaves,  nothing  but  a 
cloak  for  dishonesty,  insincerity,  hypocrisy  and  lies!"  To 
pay  members  of  Parliament  would  only  make  inefficient 
members  more  idle  and  would  turn  the  Parliament  into  a 
group  of  adventurers  whose  whole  interest  would  be,  "How 
to  advance  their  own  wages." 

Not  only  is  poverty  appointed  by  God,  said  Jenkins,  but 
so  also  is  "work  and  labour"  (Genesis  in.  19;  Exodus 
XX.  9).  But  if  God  has  ordained  poverty  and  labor  he  has 
also  made  abundant  provision  for  the  present  comfort  and 
eternal  happiness  of  the  poor :  ( i )  He  has  commanded  the 
rich  to  contribute  liberally  toward  their  wants  (Deut.  xv. 
7-11;  VI.  17-19;  I  John  III.  17-18);  (2)  God  himself  has 
promised  that  the  pious  poor  shall  have  a  sufficiency  ( Psalm 
Lxviii.    10;   cxxxii.    10;   Isaiah   xli.    17;   Matt.   vi.   26, 

'  Jenkins,  Chartism  Unmasked,  pp.  10  et  seq. 


52  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [526 

28-30) ;  (3)  God  has  made  a  further  and  better  provision, 
for  the  poor,  a  spiritual  one,  because  (a)  Jesus  was  poor; 
(b)  the  ministry  of  Christ  was  in  a  peculiar  manner  the 
ministry  of  the  poor  (Matth.  xi.  4-6)  ;  (c)  the  salvation 
of  the  poor  is  much  easier  to  obtain  than  that  of  the 
rich  (Mark  x.  23;  Romans  11.  4-6;  i  Tim.  vi.  9;  i  Cor. 
I.  26-28;  James  11.  5). 

Having  established  this  relationship  between  the  Gospel 
and  the  poor  he  entreated  the  people  that  they  turn  from 
the  Chartist  leaders,^  cease  from  reading  "  their  inflamma- 
tory publications — publications  that  speak  as  highly  of  Tom 
Paine  as  they  do  of  Jesus  Christ!",  that  they  "  never  attend 
Chartist  and  political  meetings  ",  and  "  have  nothing  to  do 
with  secret  societies  and  secret  oaths  ",  that  they  "  never, 
except  upon  some  urgent  business,  be  seen  in  one  of  the 
beer  houses  ",  and  above  all  that  they  should  "  embrace  re- 
ligion." He  closes  with  a  plea  for  an  adequate  number 
of  churches  and  devoted  ministers.  The  Church  of  Eng- 
land, he  says,  "and  Chartism  totally  oppose  each  other  ",* 
and 

a  sufficient  number  of  churches,  with  the  blessing  of  God  ac- 
companying and  resting  upon  the  ministrations  of  His  servants, 
would  soon  prove  an  invincible  barrier  to  the  progress  of 
Chartism,  and  all  similar  proceedings ;  and,  would  cause  them 
to  wither  and  die,  by  changing  the  minds,  the  feelings,  the 
hearts,  and  consequently  the  actions  of  the  people. 

These  sermons,  of  course,  did  not  go  unchallenged.  The 
Chartist  Circular  printed  a  series  of  three  articles,  each  en- 
titled "A  Tilt  with  the  Parsons  ",*  while  Joseph  Barker  in 

^  Jenkins,  Chartism  Unmasked,  pp.  22  et  seq. 

'  Appendix  III. 

'  Chartist  Circular,  pp.  193,  205,  237. 


&€£ward  >JfL  J^uim& 


527]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  63 

a  series  of  five  articles  in  The  People  ^  reviews  a  sermon  by 
Rev.  John  Haigh,  of  Huddersfield,  and  in  eight  articles  ^ 
headed  "  Our  Admirable  Constitution  in  Church  and 
State,"  takes  the  Rev.  Robert  Sutton,  Canon  Redemptionary 
of  Ripon,  to  task  for  his  sermon  on  "  Great  Britain's  Hap- 
piness." With  such  a  skilled  political  controversialist 
as  Barker  the  clergy  could  hardly  hope  to  hold  their  own. 
Although  the  Chartists  did  not  have  Romans  xiii.  to  serve 
as  a  basis  for  their  arguments,  they  had  what  was  of  much 
more  practical  value,  namely,  a  fairly  accurate  idea  of  the 
actual  state  of  the  country  politically  and  economically.  In 
the  mere  matter  of  abuse  and  the  calling  of  names  the  Char- 
tists proved  as  facile  as  the  clergy. 

In  addition  to  sermons,  several  pamphlets  appeared  from 
the  pens  of  Anglican  clergymen.  The  Rev.  Hugh  Stowell, 
M.  A.,  in  his  pamphlet.  No  Revolution:  A  Word  to  the 
People  of  England,  with  the  Biblical  text,  "  Meddle  not 
with  them  that  are  given  to  change  ",  on  the  title  page,* 
strikes  a  new  chord  when  he  appeals  against  the  Chartists  on 
the  ground  that  many  of  their  leaders  are  Irish  Papists — • 
Jesuits  perhaps.  Others  are  traders  in  agitation.  He  main- 
tains that  there  is  no  slavery  in  England,  nor  is  there  one 
law  for  the  rich  and  another  for  the  poor.  If  some  of  the 
workingmen  are  starving  it  is  no  fault  of  the  masters,  for 
the  interests  of  both  are  identical.  He  closes  in  the  cus- 
tomary strain :  "  May  you  never  cast  off  your  reverence 
for  that  Book  which  teaches  you  that  '  the  powers  that  be 
are  ordained  of  God  ',  and  that '  he  that  resisteth  the  power, 
resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God ' !  May  you  never  set  at 
naught  the  counsel  of  the  wisest  of  men,  *  Fear  God  and 

»  The  People,  pp.  39,  45,  yz,  105,  113. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  169,  177,  185,  201,  219,  233,  246,  289;  see  also  p.  283. 

'  Third  edition,  Manchester,  1848. 


64  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [528 

the  King;  and  meddle  not  with  them  that  are  given  to 
change '."  ^ 

Another  anti-Chartist  pamphlet  is  entitled,  A  Few 
Words  to  the  Chartists  by  a  Friend-  Says  the  author,  as 
he  begins,  I  must 

at  once  tell  you  the  worst  of  myself — those  particulars,   I 
mean,  which  may  incline  you  the  most  to  dislike  and  suspect 

1  This  was  immediately  answered  in  a  pamphlet  entitled,  Is  There 
One  Law  for  the  Rich  and  Another  for  the  Poor?  Being  a  Reply  by 
a  Working  Man  to  '  No  Revolution '  lately  published  by  the  Rev.  Hugh 
Stowell.  On  the  title-page  appears  the  text,  "  When  the  righteous 
are  in  authority  the  people  rejoice;  but  when  the  wicked  beareth  rule 
the  people  mourn." — Prov.  xxix,  2,  The  Working  Man  answers  that  it 
is  unfair  to  raise  the  cry  of  "  No  Popery  "  to  stifle  public  opinion.  He 
calls  it  slavery  for  a  large  class  "  to  produce  and  yet  have  not,"  and 
"  for  the  working  bees  to  toil,  and  procure  honey  for  the  idle  drones 
to  devour."  That  there  is  class  legislation,  he  says,  is  only  too  evident, 
and  the  most  deplorable  feature  of  the  whole  affair  is  that  the  clergy- 
men of  the  Established  Church  are  responsible  for  it.  In  answer  to 
the  plea  for  "  patience "  and  "  trust  in  God,"  he  answers :  "  Patience 
ought  to  have  its  limits,  and  that  in  addition  to  trust  in  God  he  ought 
to  have  his  powder  dry.  The  Bible  tells  us  having  food  and  raiment, 
therewith  be  content,  but  does  not  say  having  neither  food  or  raiment 
we  must  be  content"  (p.  6).  Then  follows  a  refutation  of  the  biblical 
quotations  used  by  Stowell  with  a  number  of  texts  to  strengthen  the 
other  side.  In  summing  up  he  says:  "That  good  subjects  ought  to 
have  good  government,  that  the  laws  of  England  ought  to  be  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  God,  that  the  working  man  is  stamped  as 
much  in  the  image  of  his  Creator  as  the  terrible  and  proud  aristocrat, 
repeat  that  beautiful  passage  from  Holy  Writ  contained  in  the  second 
chapter  of  Malachi.  It  reads  thus:  'Have  we  not  all  one  father? 
hath  not  one  God  created  us? — then  why  do  we  deal  treacherously, 
every  one  with  his  brother,  by  profaning  the  covenant  of  our  fathers?' 
Do  not  tell  us  that  divine  providence  has  placed  us  in  this  wretched 
situation,  while  we  know  that  it  is  base  and  wicked  laws,  made  by  base 
and  wicked  men.  Do  not  show  us  the  rough  and  thorny  way  to  heaven, 
while  you  yourself  the  primrose  path  of  dalliance  tread.  If  our  reward 
in  heaven  is  to  be  in  proportion  to  our  sufferings  on  earth,  if  the 
greater  our  tribulations  here,  the  greater  our  reward  hereafter,  tell  the 
rich  churchmen  and  over-paid  parsons  to  change  situations  with  us, 
and  great  will  be  their  reward  in  heaven"  (pp.  7,  8). 


529]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  65 

me.  I  am  an  old  man :  and  therefore,  you  may  probably  con- 
clude, fixed  in  all  notions,  and  desirous  to  keep  all  matters  as 
they  are — I  also  am  a  clergyman;  and  consequently  you  may 
set  me  down  as  a  bigoted  partisan  in  all  church  concerns. — 
Again:  I  am  an  elector;  and  so  may  be  disposed  to  have  no 
disposition  to  increase  the  number — and,  farther,  I  am  in  the 
middle  class  of  society.^ 

He  is  opposed  to  all  points  of  the  Charter.  The  people, 
he  says,  do  not  know  enough  to  vote  and  would  not  send 
the  best  men  to  represent  them.  As  to  property  qualifica- 
tion, those  having  property  are  the  best  to  make  laws  con- 
cerning it.  What  is  the  use  of  paying  members  when  you 
can  get  good  men  to  serve  for  nothing?  Annual  parlia- 
ments would  unnecessarily  stir  up  the  country.  Secret 
ballot  would  not  prove  secret  and  it  would  separate  the 
member  from  his  constituents.  He  would  hold  the  suffrage 
from  the  uneducated  but  he  "  distinctly  and  solemnly  "  ^ 
states  that  he  imputes  no  blame  to  the  working  class  be- 
cause of  their  ignorance. 

Still  another  was  a  tract  by  the  Vicar  of  Rotherham 
entitled  Modern  Politicians:  A  Word  to  the  Working 
Classes  of  Great  Britain.  The  object  of  this  pamphlet,  ac- 
cording to  Barker,  appeared  to  be  "to  support  existing  evils, 
by  throwing  reproach  and  ridicule  on  the  advocates  of  re- 
form ".' 

The  prevailing  feeling  among  the  clergy  of  the  State 
Church  was  echoed  in  its  papers  representing  both  the  High 
and  Low  Church  schools.  On  examining  the  High  Church 
papers  it  is  discovered  that  the  Christian  Guardian  and 
the  Church  of  England  Magazine  is  concerned  because 
Satan  and  the  "  emissaries  of  evil "  are  spreading  "  politi- 
cal discontent  and  impatience  of  the  control  of  religion  " 

^  P.  3.  »  P.  II. 

'  Reformer's  Almanac,  p.  353. 


66  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [530 

in  the  manufacturing  districts.^  To  the  Christian  Remem- 
brancer, "  Radicalism  and  Chartism  are  impossible  for 
Christians  and  Churchmen  ",  and,  they  trust,  for  England.^ 
The  English  Review  admits  that, 

It  is  a  sad  but  certain  truth  that  vast  masses  of  our  labouring 
population,  some  hundreds  of  thousands  in  number,  are  banded 
together  in  an  association,  which  professes,  for  the  moment, 
only  to  seek  for  Universal  Suffrage,  and  the  centralization  of  all 
power  in  the  working  classes;  but  which  at  the  same  time 
demonstrates,  through  all  its  organs,  its  impatient  eagerness  to 
overthrow  every  institution  of  our  country  and  create  an  abso- 
lute despotic  democracy  on  the  ruins  of  individual  freedom 
and  imperial  greatness.^ 

Liberty,  according  to  the  English  Review,  is  synonymous 
with  division  of  power,  and  it  is  under  this  liberty 
that  the  people  now  live.  If  the  middle  classes  have 
the  House  of  Commons  and  the  aristocracy  the  House 
of  Lords,  the  unfranchised  have  great  power  too,  "  be- 
ing directly  represented  by  public  meetings,  the  right  of 
petition,  the  show  of  hands  at  nomination,  the  press,  etc." 
It  is  therefore  the  duty  of  all  to  teach  the  laboring  classes 
to  prefer  "  the  true  individual  freedom  which  they  at  pres- 
ent enjoy  "  to  a  political  change  which  would  bring  only 
"  democratic  despotism."  *  Three  years  later,  in  185 1,  this 
same  paper  feels  called  upon  to  dispel  the  "  agreeable  delu- 
sion "  that  Chartism  is  defunct.  It  is  more  dangerous  than 
ever  now,  it  asserts,  because  orderly.  "  For  we  have  noth- 
ing to  fear  from  democracy,  the  pike  in  its  hand, 
everything  from  its  gradual,  and,  if  we  may  say  '  constitu- 
tional'    demolition   of    our    Constitution    in    Church    and 

^  Vol.  for  1847,  p.  332.  '  Vol.  viii,  p.  683. 

'Vol.  ix,  pp.  194,  19s. 

*  English  Review,  vol.  ix,  pp.  194-196. 


531]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  67 

State."  ^  Any  increase  of  the  suffrage  is  to  be  dreaded 
as  tending  to  establish  the  supreme  authority  in  a  single 
branch  of  the  legislature,  thus  upsetting  the  equilibrium  of 
balance  of  power.  ^ 

The  Low  Church  organs  were  equally  hostile.  Although 
the  Church  of  England  Magazine  attributed  the  riots  of 
1842  to  a  lack  of  religion  which  would  have  made  the  oper- 
atives "  satisfied  with  their  position  in  life,"  *  it  still  had  a 
wholesome  fear  of  Chartism.*  The  editor  of  the  Christian 
Observer  was  greatly  alarmed  over  the  "  Chartists  and  the 
very  refuse  of  society  who  cannot,  or  will  not,  distinguish 
between  the  excellency  of  an  institution  and  the  casual  tem- 
porary defects  of  its  administration  ",^  and  in  the  year 
1839  he  mentions  them  almost  every  month  in  the  depart- 
ment called  "  View  of  Public  Affairs  ".^  The  secular  re- 
views like  the  Quarterly  and  the  Edinburgh,  which  con- 
tained, however,  numerous  religious  articles,  were  in  a 
similar  manner  opposed  to  Chartism.'^ 

Sometimes  in  the  daily  rounds  of  pastoral  duty  a  clergy- 
man would  find  an  opportunity  to  express  his  feelings  in 
regard  to  the  Chartist  demands.  Rev.  J.  T.  Brown  of 
Northampton,  upon  finding  a  Chartist  tract  in  the  house  of 
a  parishioner,  tore  out  six  leaves  and  threw  them  in  the 
fire,  afterwards  asserting  that  any  other  tracts  found  in  his 
district  teaching  sedition  and  blasphemy  would  be  treated 
in  a  similar  manner.*     Joseph  Parker  tells  of  one  man  who 

1  English  Review,  vol.  xvi,  p.  56, 

'  Ihid.,  vol.  xvi,  p.  85.    See  also  British  Critic,  vol.  xxvii,  pp.  340,  341. 

■  Church  of  England  Magazine,  vol.  xvi,  p.  368. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  XX,  p.  215.  "*  Christian  Observer,  vol.  lix,  p.  446. 

•  Ibid.,  pp.  381,  446,  Sio,  640,  817,  and  especially  573. 

'  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  Ixv,  pp.  483  et  seq.;  vol.  Ixvi,  pp.  461  et  seq.; 
vol.  Ixxxv,  p.  293 ;  vol.  Ixxxix,  pp.  491  et  seq. 
^  The  People,  vol.  i,  p.  ZZZ- 


68  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [532 

proposed  that  the  Northern  Star  be  taken  into  a  public  news 
room,  upon  which  "  he  was  expelled  for  his  insolence,  the 
vicar  and  several  persons  of  property  passing  him  on  the 
road  as  if  he  had  lost  any  little  character  which  he  might 
have  had."  ^ 

Kingsley,  when  he  drew  what  he  considered  a  type  of 
the  average  Church  of  England  clergyman  of  high  rank, 
put  in  his  mouth  the  words,  "  What's  that  about  brother- 
hood and  freedom,  Lillian?  We  don't  want  anything  of 
that  kind  here."  ^  It  was  exactly  that  attitude  which  separ- 
ated so  decidedly  the  clergy  from  the  working-class  radi- 
cals. It  is  true  that  in  the  opposition  to  the  New  Poor  Law 
and  in  the  fight  against  the  factory  system  an  occasional 
point  of  contact  was  established.  In  the  struggle  for  a 
greater  democracy  in  church  and  state  and  in  the  emphasis 
placed  upon  Christianity  the  Chartists  found  little  in  com- 
mon with  the  Church  of  England  or  its  representatives. 

B.  The  High  Church  or  Oxford  Movement 
Although  the  chief  influence  of  the  High  Church  move- 
ment was  felt  along  theological  and  doctrinal  lines,  yet 
there  was  in  it  a  distinctly  political  element  which  it 
is  impossible  to  ignore.^  This  political  feature  was  par- 
ticularly in  evidence  during  the  early  years  of  that  move- 
ment, for  the  political  situation  then  called  it  into  be- 
ing. The  Reform  Bill  of  1832  developed  two  distinct 
parties  in  the  English  Church,  one  of  which  decided  to 
accept  the  inevitable  and  make  the  best  of  it,  the  other, 
later  developing  into  the  High  Church  Party,  was  "  op- 
posed to  liberalism  in  church  and  state  ",*  and  was  unwill- 
ing to  remain  passive  under  the  attacks  of  the  government. 

^  Parker,  A  Preacher's  Life,  p.  54.  *  Alton  Locke,  p.  154. 

*  TuUoch,  Movement  of  Religious   Thought  in  Britain  during   the 
Nineteenth  Century,  p.  105. 

*  IbJd.,  p.  88. 


533]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  5g 

To  this  party  the  Reform  Bill  had  come  as  a  horrible  night- 
mare, and  was  looked  upon  as  a  logical  sequence  to  the  anti- 
church  measures  already  passed.^  The  composition  of  the 
first  reformed  parliament  was  not  such  as  to  allay  their 
fears,  and  the  ministry  itself  was  thought  to  be  "  connected 
with  all  that  was  dangerous  in  religious  principle,  zealous 
friends  of  Rationalists,  Deists,  Socinians,  Dissenters,  and 
Roman  Catholics,  all  of  whom  were  equally  bent  on  the 
destruction  of  the  Church."  ^  The  fears  of  Churchmen  that 
further  measures  detrimental  to  the  Establishment  might  be 
introduced  were  soon  confirmed.  Early  in  1833  *  the  gov- 
ernment in  consequence  of  a  motion  of  Mr.  Ward,  mem- 
ber for  St.  Albans,  brought  in  a  bill  to  reduce  the  number 
of  Irish  bishops  from  twenty-two  to  twelve,  and  to  tax  the 
Irish  clergy  and  apply  the  proceeds  to  the  extinction  of 
church-cess,  a  rate  levied  to  keep  the  church  buildings  in 
good  condition.  It  was  this  bill  with  the  accompanying 
admonition  of  Lord  Grey  to  the  prelates  to  set  their  house 
in  order  that  galvanized  the  High  Church  Party  into  action 
and  caused  the  founding  in  1833  of  the  "  Association  of 
Friends  of  the  Church  ",*  the  beginning  of  the  Oxford 
Movement  and  the  publication  of  the  Tracts  for  the  Times. 
These  circumstances  led  Dean  Stanley  to  ascribe  to  the 
movement  an  "  origin  entirely  political ".°  The  fol- 
lowers of  Pusey  and  R.  H.  Froude  fought  every  hostile 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  government,  to  the  extent  of 

*  The  High  Churchmen  looked  upon  the  repeal  of  the  Test  and  G>r- 

poration  Acts  of  1828  and  the  Catholic  Emancipation  Act  of  1829  as 
anti-church  measures.    Vide  Overton,  The  Anglican  Revival,  p.  9. 

*  Palmer,  Narrative  of  Events  Connected  with  the  Publication  of 
Tracts  for  the  Times,  p.  38. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  44,  loi ;  Molesworth,  History  of  England,  vol.  i,  p.  286. 

*  Palmer,  op.  cit.,  pp.  95  et  seq. 

'Church,  The  Oxford  Movement,  pp.  i,  2,  note;  Edinburgh  Review, 
1880,  pp.  309,  310. 


yo  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [534 

opposing  in  1836  the  reform  of  the  English  Church/  and 
so  exerted  an  influence  political  as  well  as  spiritual.^ 

The  politics  of  the  Oxford  Movement  were  ultra-Tory. 
Froude  "  was  a  Tory  of  the  old  Cavalier  stamp."  *  To 
Newman,  revolutionary  Paris  was  so  distasteful  that  he 
kept  indoors  when  his  boat  stopped  at  Algiers  so  as  not  to 
look  upon  the  Tricolor.*  Keble  was  a  "  Tory  of  the  Old 
School "."  Ward  in  his  college  days  at  Oxford  moved  at 
the  Union :  "  That  an  absolute  monarchy  is  a  more  desir- 
able form  of  government  than  the  constitution  proposed  by 
the  Reform  Bill  of  Lord  John  Russell  ".^  Rose,  Palmer 
and  Percival  were  equally  conservative.''  In  fact  to  be  a 
High  Churchman  was  synonymous  with  being  a  Tory.' 

"  It  was  a  new  Toryism  or  designed  to  be  such,  as  well  as  a 
new  sacerdotalism  'V  says  Professor  Tulloch.  It  was  in- 
deed a  new  Toryism  of  a  particularly  vital  kind,  not  a 
mere  helpless  attempt  to  maintain  the  status  quo.  The 
glories  of  the  medieval  state  as  pictured  by  Scott  ^^  and  of 
the  medieval  church  as  drawn  by  Ward  in  The  Ideal  Church 
seem  to  have  been  continually  before  the  minds  of  the 
Oxford  leaders.  With  "  its  bases  in  a  deep  distrust  of 
democracy  ",  "  the  High  Church  party  stood  for  the  asser- 

1  Palmer,  op.  cit.,  p.  63. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  105  et  seq. 

'  Newman,  Apologia,  p.  48  (Everyman's  Library  edition). 

*  Tulloch,  op.  cit.,  p.  IDS. 

''Ibid.,  p.  87;  also  Letters  and  Correspondence,  ed.  by  Anne  Mozley, 
p.  32. 

*  Ward,  William  Ward  and  the  Oxford  Movement,  p.  20. 
'  Overton,  The  Anglican  Revival,  p.  32. 

^  Mozley,  Reminiscences  Chiefly  of  Oriel  College  and  the   Oxford 
Movement,  vol.  i,  p.  188. 

*  Tulloch,  op.  cit.,  p.  105. 

"  British  Critic,  April,  1839,  vol.  xxv,  p.  399. 


535]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  71 

tion  of  paternalism  in  government  "  and  "  of  a  more  or  less 
paternal  ecclesiasticism  "/  The  Catholic  idea  that  unques- 
tioning obedience  is  a  virtue  in  itself  was  firmly  embedded 
in  the  doctrine  of  Puseyism.  A  reverence  for  authority, 
especially  ecclesiastical,  was  fundamental,  while  unstinted 
condemnation  was  meted  out  to  the  spirit  of  lawlessness  of 
the  times. ^  The  attitude  of  the  Oxford  Movement  to  the 
liberalism  of  the  day  is  nowhere  better  set  forth  than  in 
the  first  part  of  Tract  83,  published  in  1840,  where  most  of 
the  reform  projects  of  the  time  are  ascribed  to  Satan's 
efforts  to  bring  about  an  apostasy  from  the  Church  of 
Christ.     It  says: 

He  promises  you  civil  liberty;  he  promises  you  equality;  he 
promises  you  trade  and  wealth;  he  promises  you  a  remission 
of  taxes;  he  promises  you  reform.  This  is  the  way  he  con- 
ceals from  you  the  kind  of  work  to  which  he  is  putting  you; 
he  tempts  you  to  rail  against  your  rulers  and  superiors;  he 
does  so  himself,  and  induces  you  to  imitate  him ;  or  he  promises 
you  illumination — he  offers  you  knowledge,  science,  philosophy, 
enlargement  of  mind.  He  scoffs  at  times  gone  by,  he  scoffs 
at  every  institution  that  reveres  them,"  etc.^ 

These  are  the  characteristics  of  the  "  Times  of  Antichrist  " 
to  which  the  Oxford  Movement  is  unalterably  opposed. 

But  not  only  did  Puseyism  have  political  antecedents  and 
teach  a  definite  political  doctrine  but  it  had  its  recognized 
ally  in  the  political  arena  of  the  day.  Partially  through  its 
influence  a  new  party  was  growing  up,  known  as  "  Young 
England  ".    What  the  Oxford  Movement  would  do  for  the 

^  Hall,  Social  Meaning  of  Modern  Religious  Movements  in  England, 
pp.  219,  222,  230. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  229 ;  Tracts  for  the  Times,  no.  86,  pp.  39,  50,  84  et  seq.,  and 
no.  87,  p.  121. 

'  Tracts  for  the  Times,  no.  83,  pp.  13,  14. 


72  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [536 

Church,  Young  England  would  do  for  the  state/  Repu- 
diating Conservatism,  Whiggism  and  Radicalism  as  all 
alike  inadequate  to  the  needs  of  the  time  the  Young  Eng- 
land Party,  like  the  Oxford,  stood  for  a  new  Toryism,  a 
Toryism  with  a  program.  An  examination  of  the  platform 
of  the  Young  England  Party  as  promulgated  by  Disraeli  in 
his  Sybil  (1844)  and  Coningsby  (1845)  shows  an  unmis- 
takable affinity  between  the  purposes  of  the  two  movements, 
which  was  generally  conceded  at  the  time.^  In  secular 
politics  Young  England  would  abolish  class  legislation, 
recognize  the  authority  of  public  opinion  and  restore  to  the 
sovereign  his  lost  prerogatives,*  attaining  progress  with- 
out change  in  the  form  of  government.*  In  ecclesiastical 
matters  they  would  restore  the  church  to  its  medieval  glory 
of  freedom  from  the  state,  of  emphasis  upon  forms,  of 
democracy  and  of  friendship  for  the  people.^ 

To  Young  England  the  social  question  was  a  most  im- 
portant one.  The  attitude  of  this  group  is  unmistakably 
expressed  in  Disraeli's  Chartist  novel,  Sybil  or  The  Two 
Nations.  Stirred  by  what  he  considered  the  two  great 
evils  of  the  time,  namely,  "  the  oppression  of  the  church, 
and  the  degradation  of  the  people  ",®  Disraeli  held  that  the 
working  class,  as  a  class,  were  entitled  to  certain  privileges 
as  much  as  any  class  in  England  and  those  privileges  con- 
sisted of  at  least  food,  clothing  and  shelter.  In  support  of 
this  he  said : 

the  rights  of  labor  were  as  sacred  as  those  of  property;  that 
if  a  difference  were  to  be  established,  the  interests  of  the 

^  Edinburgh  Review,  vol.  81,  pp.  504,  505. 

'  Christian  Remembrancer,  June,  1844,  p.  678, 

'  Disraeli,  Sybil,  pp.  314,  489.  *  Ibid.,  p.  335. 

'^Eclectic  Magazine,  1844,  p.  51. 

«  Disraeli,  Sybil,  pp.  67,  69,  128,  129. 


537]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  y^ 

living  ought  to  be  preferred  .  .  .  the  social  happiness  of  the 
millions  should  be  the  first  object  of  a  statesman,  and  that,  if 
this  were  not  achieved,  thrones  and  dominions,  the  pomp  and 
power  of  courts  and  empires,  were  alike  worthless.^ 

He  would  "  bring  back  strength  to  the  Crown,  liberty 
to  the  Subject,  and  announce  that  power  has  only  one 
duty;  to  secure  the  social  welfare  of  the  People",^  This 
prosperity  of  the  people  he  would  bring  back  not  by 
increasing  the  franchise  but  by  educating  the  wealthy  and 
the  churches  up  to  a  sense  of  their  duty.  The  nobility 
should  look  upon  the  tenantry  as  human  beings  rather  than 
as  so  much  wealth,  while  the  church,  as  in  the  middle 
ages,  should  turn  to  wholesale  and  lavish  charity.  The 
noble  was  to  be  "  father  of  the  poor  and  chief  of  the  neigh- 
borhood ".  Disraeli's  ideas  were  taken  up  enthusiastically 
by  many.  "  Doles  were  formally  given  out  at  stated  hours 
to  all  who  would  come  for  them  at  the  castle  gate  'V  while 
"  Young  noblemen  played  cricket  with  the  peasants  on  their 
estates  and  the  Saturnian  age  was  believed  by  a  good  many 
to  be  returning."  *  In  other  words  the  whole  scheme  was 
that  of  a  great  paternal  and  benevolent  despotism.  Dis- 
raeli has  infinite  sympathy  for  the  poor  and  oppressed,  but 
no  faith  in  Chartism  as  a  means  of  bettering  their  lot. 

Although  the  combination  of  the  activities  of  these  two 
parties,  the  State  and  Church  Puseyites,  caused  an  out- 
break of  social  activity  and  philanthropic  work  similar  to 
that  accompanying  the  Methodist  revival,'  yet  this  was  not 
what  the  Chartists  wanted.    Undoubtedly  the  idea  of  Dis- 

1  Disraeli,  Sybil,  p.  337.  *  Ibid.,  p.  315. 

*  McCarthy,  A  History  of  Our  Own  Times,  vol.  i,  p.  328. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  329. 

*  Hall,  op.  cit.,  pp.  221,  224,  225 ;  Palmer,  op.  cit.,  pp.  258,  259. 


74  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [538. 

raeli's  paternal  despotism  might  have  appealed  to  such  men 
as  Stephens  or  even  O'Connor  or  O'Brien/  but  it  had  no 
place  in  the  thought  of  the  school  of  Lovett,  Dierlamm  well 
says :  "  The  striving  toward  social,  political  and  intellectual 
independence  of  the  workers — one  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  Chartism — stood  diametrically  opposed  to  the 
thought  of  Disraeli  ".^  The  Times  newspaper,  which  was 
considered  as  the  special  mouthpiece  of  the  Young  Eng- 
land party,*  was  most  bitterly  hated  by  the  Chartists.* 

There  was,  however,  a  superficial  similarity  between  the 
ideas  of  one  group  of  Chartists,  and  the  followers  of  the 
Oxford  Movement  and  Young  England  in  at  least  one 
respect.  Dierlamm  makes  a  strong  point  when  he  maintains 
that  the  real  division  in  the  Chartist  ranks  was  not  that  be- 
tween the  physical  and  moral  force  wings   (this  division 

/  is  to  be  found  in  all  movements),  but  in  the  division  be- 
tween those  who,  like  O'Connor  and  O'Brien,  were  forever 
looking  backward  to  the  former  prosperous  days  of  the 

\  English  laborer  and  seeking  to  restore  conditions  which 
had  forever  passed  away,  and  those  who,  like  Lovett  and 
Cooper,  accepted  the  changes  of  the  industrial  revolution 
and  sought  a  remedy  in  the  intellectual  and  moral  develop- 
ment and  regeneration  of  the  workingman.''  It  was  the 
futile  endeavor  to  bring  back  the  good  old  days,  which 
probably  never  existed,  and  the  continuous  looking  back- 
ward that  bound  in  a  measure  one  group  of  Chartists  to  the 

^  Dierlamm,  Die  Flugschriftenliteratur  der  Chartistenbewegung,  p.  19. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  87.  "  Das  Streben  nach  zozialen,  politischen  und  intellectu- 
ellen  Selbstandigheit  des  Arbeiters — eine  des  Grundideen  des  Chartis- 
mus — stand  der  Gedanken  Disraeli's  diametral  entgegen," 

'  Ed.  Rev.,  vol.  Ixxxi,  p.  504. 

*  Dierlamm,  op.  cit.,  p.  80. 

^  Dierlamm,  op.  cit.,  p.  9. 


539]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  75 

two  aristocratic  ^  movements  in  church  and  state.  But  the 
average  Chartist  wanted  first  poHtical  justice,  thinking  that 
having  once  acquired  this,  he  would  be  in  a  position  to  de- 
mand and  obtain  social  justice.  With  the  ultra-Toryism 
and  the  benevolent  despotism  of  the  Oxford  Movement  and 
Young  England,  Chartism  had  always  little  sympathy.  One 
Chartist,  Charles  Westerton,  "  rendered  great  service  to  the 
Liberal  cause  by  his  opposition  to  Puseyism  'V  while  Lovett 
and  other  leaders  were  equally  hostile.  The  whole  Chartist 
conception  of  Christian  worship  as  exemplified  in  their  re- 
ligious dogma  *  and  in  the  Chartist  Churches  *  was  the  exact 
opposite  to  that  held  by  the  Oxford  Movement  and  its 
allies  in  parliament. 

C.  The  Broad  Church 

While  the  High  Churchmen,  sighing  for  an  idealistic 
medievalism,  sought  a  solution  for  the  social  problem  in  a 
return  to  the  conditions  of  bygone  days,  another  branch  of 
the  Church  of  England  with  a  viewpoint  more  practical 
was  making  itself  felt.  This  was  the  Broad  Church  move- 
ment, which  traces  its  line  from  Coleridge  and  Arnold 
through  Maurice  and  Kingsley  to  Ruskin  and  Toynbee. 
The  leaders  of  this  school  were  actuated  by  a  willingness  to 
accept  the  inevitable  developments  in  science  and  democ- 
racy,^ but  meant,  if  possible,  to  bring  them  in  line  with 
Christianity. 

What  transformed  the  Broad  Church  movement  from 
the  dilettante  musings  of  a   few  philosophically  inclined 

^  Palmer,  op.  cit.,  p.  60. 

*  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  259. 
8  Supra,  pp.  19  et  seq. 

*  Supra,  pp.  42  et  seq. 

^Charles  Kingsley:  His  Letters  and  Memories  of  His  Life,  vol.  i,  p. 
141. 


76  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [540 

literary  men  and  ministers  to  a  vital  factor  in  the  life  of 
England  was  the  almost  incredible  growth  of  infidelity  par- 
ticularly amongst  the  working  classes.  The  real  struggle 
of  the  day,  said  Maurice,  was  between  Atheism  and  Christ,^ 
while  Kingsley  thought  that  in  the  approaching  political 
and  social  crisis,  "  religion,  like  a  rootless  plant,  may  be 
brushed  away  in  the  struggle  ".^  The  workingmen,  wear- 
ied with  the  cant  phrases  of  the  orthodox  churchmen  and 
disgusted  with  their  unwillingness  or  failure  to  meet 
squarely  the  questions  of  the  religious  radicals  from  Paine 
and  Priestley  to  Mill  and  Holyoake,  seemed  to  be  drifting 
entirely  away  from  the  influence  of  the  church.  "  In  plain 
truth,"  said  Kingsley,  "  the  English  clergy  must  Arnold- 
ize,  if  they  do  not  wish  to  go  either  to  Rome  or  to  the  work- 
house, before  fifty  years  are  out  ".*  It  was  toward  an 
attempt  to  reconcile  science  and  religion  and  to  win  the  free- 
thinkers back  that  the  Broad  Churchmen  directed  their 
activities. 

In  the  purely  intellectual  field  such  men  as  Whately, 
Arnold  of  Rugby,  Hampden,  Stanley,  Milman  and  Thirl- 
wall  rendered  "  vast  assistance  to  men  struggling  with  the 
evident  contradictions  between  modem  criticism,  history, 
and  philosophy  and  the  systems  of  religious  belief  common 
in  their  day  ".*  But  the  inevitable  alliance  of  liberalism 
in  politics  and  religion  soon  drew  the  attention  of  the 
Broad  Church  leaders  to  the  social  problem,  for  "  the  now 
threatening  danger  of  English  life  was  the  identification  of 
all  social  change  with  extreme  radicalism  in  religion  "."^ 
This  truth  seems  to  have  been  first  intensely  felt  by  Fred- 

1  Charles  Kingsley,  vol.  i,  p.  142.  *Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  142. 

8  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  143. 
*  Hall,  op.  cit.,  p.  181. 
^Ibid.,  p.  182. 


541  ]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  yy 

erick  Denison  Maurice,  but  the  facts  were  so  obvious  and 
the  need  for  action  so  great  that  he  was  soon  surrounded 
by  an  ardent  band  of  co-workers,  the  most  important  of 
whom  were  Charles  Kingsley,  Archdeacon  Hare,  William 
Ludlow  and  Thomas  Hughes,^  while  Robertson  of  Brigh- 
ton, although  not  in  sympathy  with  the  socialism  of  these 
men,  held  closely  to  their  views  in  other  respects.^ 

This  group  had  been  considering  for  some  time  the  best 
method  of  approach  to  the  workingmen,  when  the  revolu- 
tion of  1848  on  the  Continent  and  the  renewed  activity  of 
the  Chartists  at  home  gave  them  an  opportunity  which  they 
at  once  seized.  To  the  Chartists,  disappointed  after  the 
fiasco  on  Kennington  Common,  Kingsley  came  with  his 
appeal  of  April  12th.*  This  was  followed  on  May  6th  by 
the  first  number  of  Politics  for  the  People,*"  to  which 
Maurice,  Kingsley,  Ludlow,  Archdeacon  Hare,  Professor 
Conington,  Archbishop  Whately  and  Sir  Arthur  Helps 
were  important  contributors.^  Politics  for  the  People 
(1848)  was  far  from  being  a  Chartist  publication;  it  was 
almost  conservative.  Physical  Force  Chartism  was  de- 
nounced even  to  the  extent  of  condemning  monster  meet- 
ings, whether  lawful  or  not,  as  senseless  and  criminal,®  and 
"  the  demand  for  universal  suffrage  by  men  who  had  neither 
education  or  moral  self-government  to  qualify  for  the 
vote  "  ^  was  vigorously  opposed. 

1  Seligman,  "  Owen  and  the  Christian  Socialists,"  Political  Science 
Quarterly,  vol.  i,  pp.  221,  239. 

*  Brooke,  Life  and  Letters  of  Frederick  W.  Robertson,  chap.  ix. 
'  Appendix  VI;  Charles  Kingsley,  vol.  i,  pp.  156,  157. 

*  Charles  Kingsley,  vol.  i,  p.   162 ;   Maurice,  Life   of  Frederick  D. 
Maurice,  vol.  i,  p.  474. 

'  Seligman,  op.  cit.,  p.  226. 

*  Life  of  Maurice,  vol.  i,  p.  472. 
"  Charles  Kingsley,  vol.  i,  p.  162. 


y%  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [542 

The  relationship  of  such  men  as  Maurice,  Kingsley. 
and  Robertson  to  the  Chartist  movement  is  easily  mis- 
understood. It  is  true  that  Kingsley  wrote  a  Chartist 
novel  in  which  he  pleaded  passionately  for  justice  to  the 
lower  classes,  and  he  and  Maurice  addressed  frequent 
groups  of  Chartists,^  as  did  Robertson.^  But  not  one  of 
the  three  had  any  faith  in  Chartism  as  a  political  creed,  or 
believed  that  the  Six  Points  would  remedy  the  social  evils 
or  materially  ameliorate  the  lot  of  the  workingman.  Mau- 
rice speaks  of  the  "  unrighteous  pretensions  "  ^  of  Chart- 
ism and  offers  himself  as  a  special  constable  for  the  loth 
of  April.*  Robertson  admits  that  the  Chartists  refused  to 
own  him  as  a  brother.^  It  is  true  that  Kingsley  proclaimed 
himself  a  Chartist  one  time  at  a  public  meeting,®  but  he 
never  advocated  any  of  its  points  or  apparently  had  any  faith 
in  them.  As  he  himself  said,  "  But  my  quarrel  with  the 
Charter  is,  that  it  does  not  go  far  enough  in  reform."  He 
was  not  bitterly  opposed  to  it ;  he  simply  thought  that,  as  a 
method  of  reform,  it  failed  to  touch  the  real  need  of  the 
people.  He  chides  the  Chartists  with  the  mistake  "  of 
fancying  that  legislative  reform  is  social  reform,  or  that 
men's  hearts  can  be  changed  by  Act  of  Parliament ",  and 
goes  on  to  say : 

If  anyone  will  tell  me  of  a  country  where  a  charter  made  the 
rogues  honest,  or  the  idle  industrious,  I  shall  alter  my  opinion 
of  the  Charter,  but  not  till  then.  It  disappointed  me  bitterly 
when  I  read  it.  It  seemed  a  harmless  cry  enough,  but  a  poor, 
bald,  constitutionmongering  cry  as  I  ever  heard.     That  French 

1  Charles  Kingsley,  vol.  i,  pp.  205  et  seq.;  Life  of  Maurice,  vol.  i,  pp. 
519,  536,  537,  538,  539,  542. 

*  Brooke,  Life  of  Robertson,  Appendix,  pp.  743,  748. 

3  Life  of  Mauriie,  vol.  i,  p.  278.  *  Ibid.,  p.  472. 

*  Life,  p.  170. 

*  Charles  Kingsley,  vol.  i,  p.  166. 


543]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  yg 

cry  of  "  Organization  of  Labour  "  is  worth  a  thousand  of  it, 
and  yet  that  does  not  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter  by  many 
a  mile.^ 

In  Alton  Locke  the  failure  of  Chartism  does  not  concern  him 
greatly.  In  fact  he  looks  upon  it  almost  as  a  just  retribu- 
tion for  the  sins  of  the  Chartists,  and  as  an  event  which 
should  bring  them  back  to  better  and  more  certain  ways  of 
gaining  their  rights.^ 

What  then  had  the  Broad  Churchmen  to  offer  the  lower 
classes  in  place  of  the  Charter?  Two  things  primarily — 
education  and  cooperation.  In  January,  1840,  Maurice 
said  that  Chartism  "  could  only  be  crushed  by  education  ".^ 
Robertson's  advice  was :  "Reform  yourselves  and  institutions 
will  reform  themselves."  *  "  Workers  of  England,"  wrote 
Kingsley,  "  be  wise,  and  then  you  must  be  free,  for  then 
you  will  be  y?^  to  be  free."'  The  emphasis  was  upon  a 
reform  of  the  individual  not  upon  the  government.  A 
practical  beginning  in  education  was  made  at  Little  Ormond 
Yard,  "  a  place  so  disorderly  that  no  policeman  liked  to 
venture  there  at  night  "."  By  i860,  Workingmen's  Colleges 
were  established  in  at  least  eleven  cities.^  The  educational 
work  of  Toynbee  Hall,  of  Morris  and  of  Ruskin  was  in  a 
measure  an  outgrowth  of  the  efforts  of  Maurice  and  his 
fellow-laborers.  * 

As  a  more  immediate  method  of  alleviation,  Maurice  and 

*  Charles  Kingsley,  vol.  i,  p.  163. 
^  Alton  Locke,  chap.  xl. 

'  Life  of  Maurice,  vol.  i,  p.  278. 

*  Brooke,  Life  of  Robertson,  p.  748. 
'  Charles  Kingsley,  vol.  i,  p.  157. 

*  Life  of  Maurice,  vol.  i,  p.  482. 
^  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  378. 

^  Hall,  op.  cit.,  p.  197. 


8o  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [544 

Kingsley,  aided  by  Ludlow,  Hughes  and  others,  proposed 
cooperation.  They  called  themselves  "Christian  Socialists" 
and  desired  to  organize  the  trades  into  cooperative  societies 
on  a  Christian  basis.  A  beginning  was  made  with  the 
tailors  in  1850,^  and  several  societies  were  formed.  Al- 
though cooperation  has  made  progress  in  England  these 
organizations  soon  disappeared.  The  history  of  the  Chris- 
tian Socialists  and  their  activities  resembles  closely  that  of 
the  London  Working  Men's  Association,  whose  early  co- 
operative efforts  eventually  gave  way  to  education. 

The  influence  of  the  Broad  Church  movement  upon  the 
social  life  of  England  was  important.  By  helping  the 
workingmen  find  a  solution  for  their  religious  doubts,  and 
by  demonstrating  that  the  church  had  an  interest  in  their 
welfare,  it  was  able  to  retain  many  of  them  for  Christianity. 
It  also  infused  into  the  institutions  of  Owen  the  inspir- 
ation of  a  religious  altruism,^  and  by  infecting  the  spirit 
that  propagated  socialism  with  "  a  deep  distrust  for 
either  sharply  cut  class  lines  or  of  intensely  dogmatic  posi- 
tions 'V  it  greatly  hindered  the  development  of  a  strong 
socialistic  party  in  England.  Its  value  here  is,  of  course, 
an  open  question.  To  the  Chartist  movement  after  1848  it 
contributed  indirectly  by  (i)  bringing  to  the  classes  of 
England  a  better  understanding  of  one  another,  and  (2)  by 
preparing  through  education  the  English  workingman  for 
an  eventual  successful  attainment  of  his  desires. 

II.    THE  WESLEYAN  METHODIST  CHURCH  AND  ITS  OFFSHOOTS 

The  fact  that  the  Established  Church  took  up  a  position 
bitterly  opposed  to  Chartism,  can  surprise  no  one.    It  might 

1  Life  of  Maurice,  vol.  ii,  p.  40. 

2  Hall,  op.  cit,  p.  204. 


545]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  gl 

be  supposed,  however,  that  the  Methodists,  if  not  actually 
cooperating  with  the  Chartists,  would  at  least  be  in  sym- 
pathy with  them,  and  this  for  several  reasons.  In  the  first 
place,  speaking  broadly,  Methodism  was  the  religion  of  the 
poorer  classes,^  as  Chartism  was  their  politics.  "  Metho- 
dism," said  Lecky,  "  has  long  since  taken  its  position  as  pre- 
eminently and  almost  exclusively  the  religion  of  the  middle 
and  lower  classes  of  society."  ^  The  great  majority  of 
Wesleyan  preachers  were  recruited  from  the  poorer  people, 
from  the  promising  local  preachers  who,  with  their  intelli- 
gence and  antecedents,  might  be  expected  to  support  any 
scheme  for  the  political  or  social  advancement  of  the  people. 
Again,  Methodism  won  its  greatest  successes  amongst  the 
operatives  and  miners,*  the  classes  particularly  favorable 
to  Chartism.  Finally,  even  the  enemies  of  Methodism  and 
Chartism  were  the  same,  namely,  that  "  hereditary  wealth 
and  influence,  whether  landed,  manufacturing  or  mercan- 
tile." *  Why  was  it,  then,  that  Methodism,  at  least  the  official 
Methodism  of  the  largest  branch,  the  Wesleyan  Methodists, 
assumed  an  attitude  so  uncompromising  in  opposition  to  the 
democratic  innovations  of  the  Chartists?  To  answer  this 
question  it  is  worth  while  to  run  back  briefly  over  the  con- 
nexional  history  and  general  political  outlook  of  the  Metho- 
dists. 

The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  as  it  developed,  assumed 
the  form  of  a  "  connexion,"  which  has  been  defined  as  "  a 
number  of  societies  who  have  agreed  to  unite  themselves 
in  a  common  bond  of  doctrine  and  discipline,  under  a  com- 

'  Minutes,  vol.  x,  p.  102. 

'  Lecky,  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  vol.  ii,  p.  640, 

'  Quarterly  Review,  no.  139,  p..  167. 

*  Rigg,    The   Connexional   Economy   of   Wesleyan   Meth.    (London, 
1879),  pp.  201,  202. 


82  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [546 

mon  code  of  regulations  and  usages,  and  under  a  common 
government."  ^  This  sounds  harmless  enough;  but  in  the 
form  it  took  under  Wesley  and  his  successors  it  resembled 
far  more  the  closely-knit  organization  of  the  Episcopal  and 
Catholic  than  that  of  the  Indejyendent  and  other  nonconform- 
ist churches  of  England.  Over  the  classes,  societies,  circuits 
and  districts  were  appointed  teachers,  lay  preachers,  minis- 
ters, superintendents,  and  over  these  the  conference  and 
Legal  Hundred,^  "  oversight,  as  in  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
being  reduced  to  an  exact  science."  *  Power  was  almost 
exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  ministers,  the  control  of  the 
laymen  being  almost  a  minus  quantity.  As  a  natural  con- 
sequence, the  history  of  Wesleyan  Methodism  since  the 
death  of  Wesley  has  been  largely  a  record  of  revolts  and 
attempts  to  introduce  more  democracy  into  the  government 
of  the  church. 

While  Wesley  lived  he  was  able  to  exercise  a  paternal 
absolutism  through  the  force  of  his  superior  personality 
and  intellectual  gifts  and  through  his  position  as  the  foun- 
der of  a  new  movement.  But  the  control  which  he  pos- 
sessed as  father  of  the  movement  did  not  rest  so  gracefully 
on  the  shoulders  of  his  legal  successors,  the  Hundred  Min- 
isters, and  troubles  were  not  long  coming.  In  1795  Kil- 
ham,  not  satisfied  with  the  reforms  of  the  "  Plan  of  Paci- 
fication," published  his  pamphlet,  The  Progress  of  Liberty 
Among  the  People  Called  Methodists,  was  expelled,  and 
started  the  Methodist  New  Connexion.  In  1806  the  "  Band 
Room  Methodists  "  broke  away,  and  in  1810  Bourne  and 

*  Watson,  An  Affectionate  Address,  p.  4. 

2  By  a  Deed  of  Declaration  in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  February  28, 
1784,  Wesley  passed  on  his  power  at  his  death  to  a  conference  of  one 
hundred  ministers,  in  whom  was  vested  the  full  government  of  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists. 

*  Faulkner,  in  New  International  Encyclopedia,  2d  ed.,  vol.  xv,  p.  505. 


^7]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  83 

his  companions,  having  been  expelled  during  the  camp-meet- 
ing controversy/  started  the  Primitive  Methodists — a  body 
of  earnest  followers  of  Wesley,  who  have  increased  largely  in 
the  nineteenth  century.  O'Bryan  in  18 15,  after  his  expulsion, 
organized  his  societies  into  what  were  later  called  Bible 
Christians.  In  1828  the  Leeds  Organ  case;  in  1834  the  ex- 
pulsion of  J.  R.  Stephens;  in  1835  the  Warren  controversy 
and  the  affair  of  the  Rochdale  petitioners;  and  in  1836  the 
secession  of  the  Arminian  Methodists,  caused  considerable 
loss  and  some  few  concessions.  When  in  1849  even  free 
speech  became  impossible  under  Bunting  and  his  followers, 
the  most  important  agitation  of  all,  that  of  Everett,  Dunn 
and  Griffith,  resulted  in  a  membership  loss  of  100,000  and 
a  revenue  loss  of  £100,000  in  three  years. 

Concerning  these  secessions  two  facts  stand  forth  pre- 
eminently. In  the  first  place,  all  of  them,  with  one  minor 
exception  (that  of  the  Arminians  in  1835),  were  on  political 
and  administrative,  not  doctrinal  grounds,  and  caused  by  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  form  of  government.  Secondly,  the 
agitations  in  the  church  were  closely  associated  in  point  of 
time  with  periods  of  political  and  revolutionary  agitation  in 
England  and  Europe.  The  Methodist  agitations  were 
grouped  around  three  periods:  first,  the  period  of  the 
French  Revolution  when  the  followers  of  Kilham  broke 
away;  second,  the  period  of  the  agitation  for  the  Reform 
Bill  when  the  Leeds  Organ  case  and  the  Warren  affair  dis- 
turbed the  church;  and  third,  the  revolutionary  period  of 
1848  which  resulted  in  the  Wesleyan  Reform  Movement. 
"  The  revolutionary  ideas  of  the  Chartist  Period  ( 1840- 
1848)    and   of   Continental   politics    (1848-1849)    reacted 

*  Minutes  for  1807  and  1810. 


g4         CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [54^ 

upon  Wesleyan  Methodism  as  the  political  ideas  of  1791 
and  1 83 1  had  done  in  these  epochs."  ^ 

Along  with  this  distrust  of  democracy  in  church  govern- 
ment there  was  a  distinctly  conservative  policy  in  political 
matters.  This  was  inherited  from  Wesley  himself,  who,  as 
a  Tory,  always  stood  for  the  status  qiw  in  government  and 
for  the  powers  that  be,  his  writings  apparently  lacking 
any  sympathy  for  popular  government.^  In  the  rules  of 
1797  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  put  themselves  on  official 
record  with  the  following:  "None  of  us  shall,  either  in 
writing  or  conversation,  speak  lightly  or  irreverently  of  the 
government  under  which  we  live.  The  oracles  of  God  com- 
mand us  to  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers;  and  '  honour 
the  King '  is  there  connected  with  the  fear  of  God."  A 
feimilar  tone  is  evinced  elsewhere.*  If  we  are  to  believe 
official  promulgations,  the  Methodists  avoided  assiduously 
any  political  affiliations.  Number  twelve  of  the  Liverpool 
Minutes  of  1820  seeks  to  impress  upon  the  people  that  they 
"do  not  exist  for  purposes  of  party."  *  The  conference 
never  tires  of  impressing  upon  the  ministers  and  people  that 
their  business  is  not  of  this  world  and  demanding  that  they 
keep  themselves  apart  from  political  agitation.'  The  prob- 
lem was  fought  out  and  decided,  at  least  to  the  satisfaction 
of  those  in  authority,  in  1834,  when  J.  R.  Stephens,  later 
famous  in  the  Chartist  movement,  was  suspended  from  the 

*  J.  H.  Rigg,  in  Enc.  Brit.,  9th  ed.,  vol.  xvi,  p.  198. 

*  See  his  pamphlets,  "Thoughts  on  Liberty,"  Works,  vol.  xi,  pp.  34-46 ; 
"Free  Thoughts  on  Public  Affairs,"  vol.  xi,  pp.  14-34;  "Thoughts 
Concerning  the  Origin  of  Power,"  vol.  xi,  pp.  46-53 ;  and  J.  A.  Faulk- 
ner's "  Socialism  of  John  Wesley,"  in  Social  Tracts  for  the  Times. 

'  Minutes,  vol.  ii,  p.  61 ;  vol.  iii,  p.  303 ;  vol.  viii,  pp.  236,  247,  371 ;  vol. 
ix,  p.  119,  etc. 

*  Minutes  of  1820 ;  Williams,  The  Constitution  and  Polity  of  Wes- 
leyan Methodism  (London,  1880) ,  appendix  iii. 

*  Minutes,  vol.  viii,  pp.  105,  237,  242 ;  vol.  x,  p.  260. 


549]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  85 

connexion  for  actively  associating  himself  with  the  move- 
ment in  favor  of  separation  of  church  and  state.^  At  this 
time  it  was  officially  enunciated  again  that  "  Methodism 
does  not  exist  for  the  purpose  of  party,"  and  that  "  a  Wes- 
leyan  minister  who  takes  a  prominent  political  position  and 
occupies  his  time  and  thought  in  furthering  the  *  purposes 
of  party '  acts  *  contrary  to  his  peculiar  calling  and  solemn 
engagements  as  a  Methodist  preacher '."  ^  This  policy  was 
carried  so  far  that  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  were  the  only 
dissenting  church  which  would  not  cooperate  in  the  Anti- 
Corn  Law  agitation.* 

With  such  conservative  antecedents  it  was  hardly  likely 
that  the  Chartist  movement  would  be  very  popular  with  the 
controlling  element  of  Wesleyan  Methodism.  The  reasons 
may  be  collected  under  three  heads : 

I.  Chartism  was  a  democratic  movement.  From  a  church 
whose  whole  previous  ecclesiastical  existence  had  been  largely 
devoted  to  the  hopeless  task  of  fighting  off  democratic  in- 
novation, Chartism  could  hope  for  little  favor.  Those  in 
the  church,  like  Griffith,  who  were  sympathetic  toward 
Chartism,  were  also  in  favor  of  a  more  popular  adminis- 
tration in  church  government.  This  in  itself  was  enough 
to  condemn  Chartism  with  those  in  power.  "  Methodism," 
Jabez  Bunting  is  reputed  to  have  said,  "  hates  democracy  as 
much  as  it  hates  sin,"  *  and  its  foes  were  not  reticent  in 

^Minutes,  vol.  vii,  pp.  417  et  seq.,  4^;  Gregory,  Handbook,  pp.  200 
et  seq. 

'  In  actual  practice,  however,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  interfere  in  sec- 
ular politics  when  their  interests  appeared  to  be  endangered.  Vide 
New  History  of  Methodism,  vol.  i,  pp.  402,  416;  Pierce,  The  Ecclesias- 
tical Principles  and  Polity  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  3d  ed.  (London, 
'873),  pp.  498  et  seq.;  Minutes,  vol.  ii,  p.  185. 

*  Prentice,  History  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League,  vol.  i,  pp.  233,  234. 

*  Methodism  as  It  Is,  p.  ii. 


86  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [550 

dwelling  on  this  point/  Several  historians  have  recog- 
nized this  conservatism  of  the  Methodists  ^  and  have  testi- 
fied to  its  becalming  influence  upon  political  life,  Taine  go- 
ing so  far  as  to  claim  that  it  saved  England  from  a  revolu- 
tion similar  to  the  French.*  This  policy  they  were  deter- 
mined to  continue. 

II.  Periods  of  political  agitation  had  heretofore  proved 
themselves  detrimental  to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  and 
to  the  welfare  of  the  connexion.*  In  the  opinion  of  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists  political  agitation  led  "  to  the  wreck  of 
all  piety."  ^  During  the  Chartist  period  emigration  was  very 
heavy  and  seriously  depleted  the  ranks  of  the  Wesleyans.* 
The  years  1837,  1842,  1848  and  1852  showed  actual  de- 
creases in  membership,  although  the  total  period  from  1838- 
1848  gave  an  increase.''  The  Primitive  Methodists,  how- 
ever, a  branch  democratically  administered,  more  than 
doubled  their  membership  during  the  Chartist  period.*  The 
great  agitations  within  the  church,  as  has  been  pointed  out, 
ran  parallel  with  the  democratic  movements  in  secular 
policies,  and  the  most  serious  of  all  with  the  Chartist  move- 
ment, which  undoubtedly  influenced  it.  The  Chartist 
churches  also  drew  from  Wesleyan  Methodist  membership. 

^  Supra,  p.  22;  Jubilee  of  the  Methodist  New  Connexion  (London, 
1848),  p.  384. 
2  Lecky,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  p.  6^7. 
'  New  History  of  Methodism,  vol.  i,  pp.  ^62,  371. 

*  Avery,  Memorials  of  Rev.  John  Henley  (London,  1844),  p.  389; 
Beech,  The  Good  Soldier  (London,  1848),  p.  93. 

*  Minutes,  vol.  iv,  p.  414 ;  vol.  x,  p.  560. 

«  Minutes,  vol.  viii,  p.  308;  vol.  ix,  pp.  114,  257,  268,  420,  427,  564,  575; 
vol.  ix,  pp.  128,  132,  310,  500. 

^  In  1838  there  were  296,800 ;  in  1848,  338,860. 

*  For  1833  there  were  48,421 ;  in  1850,  104,710. 


551]  ATTITUDE  OP  THE  CHURCHES  87 

III.  The  attitude  of  the  Chartists  in  regard  to  ecclesias- 
tical and  religious  matters  was  unacceptable.  If  the  demo- 
cracy of  Chartism  was  to  be  condemned  how  much  more 
was  its  religious  heterodoxy !  ^  The  infidelity  associated 
with  the  movement  ^  was  made  much  of,*  while  its  good 
works  went  unnoticed.  The  doctrine  of  separation  of 
church  and  state,*  which  was  an  actual  platform  of  the  Con- 
vention of  185 1  '  and  a  generally  accepted  belief  among  the 
Chartists,  was  not  in  much  favor  among  the  Wesleyans. 
The  latter  were  rather  "  in  favor  of  its  being  maintained,"  * 
regarding  the  Establishment  "  as  one  of  the  main  bulwarks 
of  the  Protestant  faith."  ''  The  fate  of  Stephens,  when  he 
implicated  the  Methodists  in  the  dispute,  has  been  recounted." 
Furthermore  the  humor  of  such  a  typical  Chartist  battlecry 
as  "  More  pigs  and  fewer  parsons  "  ®  appealed  as  little  to 
the  Methodists  ^°  as  to  the  Anglicans. 

The  official  pronouncements  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists 
on  the  Chartist  movement  are  to  be  found  in  the  yearly  pas- 
toral letters  to  the  people,  signed  by  the  president  and  sec- 
retary of  the  conference.  Although  Chartism  as  such  is 
not  mentioned  by  name  the  implications  are  unmistakable. 
In  these  letters  the  Methodists  are  repeatedly  urged  to  keep 

'  Solly,  James  Woodford,  vol.  ii,  p.  9. 
2  Supra,  pp.  14  et  seq. 

^Minutes,  vol.  ix,  pp.  115,  125,  403,  410;  vol.  x,  112,  127,  137;  Wes. 
Meth.  Mag.,  3d  series,  vol.  xvii,  p.  153. 

*  Supra,  pp.  34  et  seq. 

5  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  371. 

•  Bunting,  Life  of  Jabez  Bunting  (London,  1878),  p.  289. 
'  Minutes,  vol.  iv,  p.  557. 

8  Supra,  p.  18. 

'  Anti-Socialist  Gazette,  Dec.  1841,  p.  36. 

"  Gregory,  Sidelights  of  the  Conflicts  of  Methodism  (London,  1898), 
P-  344. 


88  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [552 

out  of  political  agitations/  to  remain  loyal  to  the  throne.' 
to  beware  of  democratic  innovators  (who  are,  of  course, 
infidels)  *  and  are  assured  that  the  "  only  effectual  remedy 
for  the  ills  and  sufferings  of  our  fallen  world  and  our  un- 
happy country  is  to  be  found  in  the  glorious  gospel  of  the 
blessed  God."  *  While  much  concerned  over  the  fact  that 
"  Some  portions  of  our  laboring  population  have  been  in- 
toxicated and  deluded  by  the  ravings  of  lawless  demo- 
crats," ®  and  "  disloyal  and  disaffected  men  have  been  en- 
deavoring to  allure  the  humbler  classes  of  our  fellow-coun- 
trymen to  take  part  in  their  schemes,"  the  writers  yet 
have  received  "  unspeakable  pleasure  "  '  in  the  attachment 
to  the  throne  and  constitution  which  their  followers  have 
evinced. 

The  platform  of  the  Wesleycm  Methodist  Magazine,  the 
official  organ  of  the  church  imder  the  editorship  of  Thomas 
Jackson  (1839-41)  and  George  Cubitt  (1842-50),  corres- 
ponded on  social  questions  closely  to  that  of  the  ruling 
powers,  as  laid  down  in  the  letters.  The  same  concern  over 
such  questions  as  slavery  and  Catholicism,  and  the  same 
lack  of  comprehension  and  understanding  of  the  more 
serious  evils  close  at  hand  are  seen  here  as  in  the  minutes.' 
The  same  inability  or  disinclination  to  discriminate  between 
democracy  and  infidelity  and  the  same  distrust  of  democracy 
are  apparent.      While  its  policy  was  to  "  conscientiously 

*  Minutes,  vol.  viii,  pp.  96,  105,  237 ;  vol.  ix,  pp.  414 ;  vol.  x,  p.  566. 
'  Minutes,  vol.  viii,  pp.  247,  272,  371 ;  vol.  xi,  p,  119. 

'  Minutes,  vol.  ix,  pp.  115,  403. 

*  Minutes,  vol.  xi,  p.  501. 
'  Minutes,  vol.  ix,  p.  125. 

*  Minutes,  vol.  xi,  p.  119. 

'  Third  series,  vol.  xvii,  p.  153.    Also  vol.  xix,  p.  955;  vol.  xix.  head- 
ings under  Sodalism;  vol.  xxiii,  p.  155. 


553]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  89 

Stand  aloof  from  all  politics "  ^  yet  an  expression  of 
opinion  would  inadvertently  crop  out*  Q>nvinced  that 
"  Infidelity  and  democracy  convert  human  beings  into 
fiends  ",^  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine  offers  Chris- 
tian education  as  a  cure,  for 

A  people  thoroughly  educated  on  Christian  principles  can 
neither  be  the  slave  of  a  despot,  nor  the  tools  or  puppets  of 
some  arbitrary  government,  on  the  one  hand ;  nor  can  they  be 
restless,  dissatisfied  murmurers,  insurrectionary  anarchists,  the 
instnmients  by  which  the  political  adventurers  seek  to  gain 
power,  whom  he  flatters  and  despises,  and  on  whom,  finally, 
in  the  hour  of  triimiph  he  tramples.* 

The  traditional  policy  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  was 
loyally  upheld  by  those  who  controlled  their  destinies  during 
these  years.  Such  men  as  Jabez  Bunting,'  John  Beecham,^ 
James  Dixon,"  George  Cubitt,  Joseph  Fowler,*  John  Han- 
nah," Thomas  Jackson,""  Robert  Newton,"  and  F.  J.  Jobson" 
could  find  nothing  to  favor  in  Chartism. 

The  preceding  discussion,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  has 
reference  only  to  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  and  not 
to  its  nvmierous  offshoots.  These  branches,  as  we  have 
seen,  developed  primarily  because  they  could  not  fit  in  with 

*  Wes.  Meth.  Mag.,  4th  series,  voL  iv,  p.  463. 

'  Ihid.,  voL  xviii,  pp.  41,  313.  *  Ibid.,  vol.  xvii,  pp.  153,  295. 

*  Fourth  series,  voL  i,  March,  1845,  in  "  Christian  Retrospect" 

*  Jobson,  A  Tribute,  pp.  70,  71 ;  Bunting,  Life  of  Bunting,  voL  ii,  p.  291. 

*  Methodism  as  It  Is,  voL  ii,  p.  881. 

^  Gr^ory,  op.  cit.,  p.  197;  Dixon,  Life  of  James  Dixon,  pp.  214,  222, 
225,  230. 
'  Gregory,  op.  cit.,  p.  328;  Minutes,  voL  »,  p.  118. 

*  Jobson,  The  Beloved  Disciple,  p.  107 ;  Minutes,  vol.  ix,  p.  125. 
'•  Minutes,  voL  viii,  p.  37 ;  ^^^J-  Meth.  Mag.,  vol.  xix,  p.  955- 

"  Pastoral  Letters  for  1840  and  1842. 

"  Hurst,  History  of  Methodism,  voL  iii,  p.  1360. 


go  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [554 

the  conservative  constitutional  policy  of  the  older  church. 
An  expanding  democracy  in  the  state  demanded  its  coun- 
terpart in  the  church,  and  the  result  is  seen  in  the  attitude  of 
such  branches  as  the  Primitive  Methodists  and  the  Metho- 
dist New  Connexion.  In  a  semi-official  publication  the 
latter  church  is  found  standing  for  "  representation  of  all 
interests,  freedom  of  commerce,  voluntary  support  of  re- 
ligion, liberty  of  thought,  enlightened  piety.  Christian 
union,  and  strong  solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  the  masses 
in  humble  life."  ^  Perhaps  the  most  noted  of  the  ministers 
of  the  Methodist  offshoots  who  became  actively  associated 
with  the  Chartist  movement  was  James  Scholefield,  Bible 
Christian,  of  Manchester.  In  an  attempt  to  break  up  an 
Anti-Corn  Law  meeting  held  in  Manchester,  March  19, 
1 841,  he  was  nominated  by  the  Chartists  as  chairman, 
but,  as  it  was  claimed  that  the  mayor  of  the  city  also  re- 
ceived the  show  of  hands,  both  had  desks  on  the  platform.^ 
A  couple  of  years  later  a  Chartist  conference  of  factory 
operatives  was  held  in  his  chapel,  and  he  was  among  those 
tried  at  the  Lancaster  assizes  of  March,  1843  ^o^  sedition 
and  incitation  to  riot,  but  found  not  guilty.* 

Furthermore,  while  the  foregoing  statements  have  been 
true  of  official  Methodism  and  of  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  its  ministers,  there  was  undoubtedly  in  the  rank  and  file  a 
more  liberal  spirit  pervading.  The  numerous  agitations  are 
a  striking  proof  of  the  continued  dissatisfaction.  The 
radicals,  while  they  condemned  the  ruling  powers  in  the 
Methodist  church,  were  free  to  admit  that  aid  might  be  ex- 
pected from  the  ranks,  if  the  people  were  only  free  agents. 

1  Jubilee  of  the  Methodist  New  Connexion,  pp.  386,  387.    See  also  p. 
384. 
'  Prentice,  History  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League,  vol.  i,  p.  184, 
•  Gammage  op.  cit.,  pp.  Z32,  235,  427. 


555]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  pi 

Thus  Archibald  Prentice,  Chartist  and  free-trader,  said  that 
many  Wesleyans  "  were  willing  to  give  their  aid  in  promot- 
ing cheapness  and  plenty  "  but  for  the  hostile  influence  of  the 
leaders.^    The  Eclectic  Review '^  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that 

Had  the  people  who  compose  the  body  free  scope  for  the  mani- 
festation of  their  sentiments,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  influ- 
ence of  Wesleyanism  would  be  freely  given  to  all  measures  for 
the  reform  of  abuses,  for  the  improvement  of  the  physical 
and  moral  condition  of  the  community,  and  for  the  abolition 
of  every  law  and  every  institution  which  interferes  with  the 
fullest  extension  of  our  civil  and  religious  liberties.  But  tied 
down  as  the  Wesleyans  are  by  laws  which  prevent  them  from 
moving  hand  or  foot,  and  by  usages  which  beget  a  servile  spirit, 
the  country  and  the  legislature  must  receive  their  notions  of  the 
state  of  opinions  in  the  Wesleyan  church  from  the  conference 
and  its  commissions.  Nor  can  we  expect  that  those  who  have 
tried  to  build  ever  upon  the  foundation  of  this  voluntary  prin- 
ciple, so  compact  a  structure  of  priestly  authority  in  their  own 
favor,  will  ever  exert  their  political  influence  in  support  of 
any  line  of  state  policy,  which  might  afterwards  be  quoted 
as  a  precedent  for  the  entire  submission  of  this  lordly  hierarchy. 

During  the  Chartist  period  Methodist  discontent  with  the 
despotic  administration  of  Bunting  and  his  followers  grew 
apace.  Finally,  in  1849,  upon  the  expulsion  of  Everett, 
Dunn  and  Griffith,  an  agitation  was  started  which  in  its 
form  and  procedure  was  remarkably  similar  to  that  of 
Chartism,  even  to  the  phraseology  of  its  war-cries-  One  of 
the  demands  was  for  "  The  Bible,  the  Whole  Bible  and 
nothing  but  the  Bible".  These  demands  in  the  form  of 
a  petition  were  called  "  The  People's  Declaration  ".'     Such 

1  Prentice,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  pp.  233,  234. 

2  August,  1846,  article  "  Methodism  as  It  Is." 
'  Wesleyan  Vindicator,  p.  120. 


92  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [556 

methods  of  arousing  the  people  were  evidently  successful, 
for  the  followers  of  Bunting  and  the  old  system  were 
strong  in  their  denunciation  of  them.  The  following  quo- 
tation will  show  how  strikingly  the  method  resembled  that 
of  the  Chartists. 

To  succeed  in  this  attempt  [said  the  Wesley  an  Vindicator], 
Christian  agitators  resorted  to  the  most  unchristian  means. 
Public  meetings  were  called,  composed  of  all  classes  of  the 
British  community.  Not  only  deluded  Methodists,  but 
worldly  politicians,  and  notoriously  ungodly  men  and  women 
were  appealed  to  for  judgment  on  Wesleyan  rule  and  govern- 
ment. Calumny,  slander,  and  reviling,  were  poured  forth  in 
concert  upon  the  most  eminent  and  beloved  ministers.  A 
monster  Petition  and  "  Bill  of  Rights  "  as  it  was  called  was 
hawked  about  in  parts,  which  were  afterwards  to  be  put 
together,  and  to  astonish  the  Connexion  by  the  vast  amount 
of  signatures  it  should  have  secured.  Secret  pledges  were 
received  to  "  stand  or  fall "  by  the  leading  agitators,  and  their 
plans  for  Wesleyan  Reform ;  and  the  meetings  held  by  pre- 
tended Delegates  to  discuss  the  questions  at  issue  and  to  secure 
the  appointment  of  "A  Committee  of  Privileges  for  the 
People  "  to  care  for  their  rights  and  liberties.^ 

The  reformers  were  accused  of  associating  with  themselves 
dissenters  and  political  agitators  of  all  kinds,^  including 
Chartists,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  the  accusa- 
tion was  true.  "  Red  Republicans  "  and  "  Chartists  "  were 
frequent  epithets  ^  used  by  the  discomfited  members  of  the 
old  church  to  describe  their  seceding  brethren.  Additional 
force  was  given  to  the  accusation  by  the  fact  that  Wil- 
liam Griffith,  one  of  the  three  leaders  in  the  Wesleyan 
Reform  agitation,  "  was  politically  a  radical  of  the  most 

*  Wesleyan  Vindicator,  p.  207. 

a  Ibid.,  p.  21.  *Ihid.,  pp.  30,  67,  86. 


557]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  93 

extreme  type,  and  took  no  pains  to  conceal  his  principles."  ^ 
During  the  agitation  he  was  continually  referred  to  as  a 
Chartist  but  so  far  from  resenting  this  he  apparently  gloried 
in  it.  "  If  I  am  a  Chartist,"  he  said,^  "  I  got  my  principles 
from  the  Bible.  That  book  is  my  political  pocket-book.  I 
hold  no  opinions  but  what  I  find  in  the  book  of  God."  In 
another  place*  he  expresses  himself  as  follows:  "As  long 
as  I  believe  in  the  Bible,  a  Chartist  of  that  school  I  will  be, 
and  I  will  teach  the  workingman  to  think  that  he  is  a  man 
and  that  it  is  his  own  fault  if  he  is  not  as  noble,  as  respect- 
able as  any  man  who  walks  the  face  of  the  earth."  "  His 
political  opinions,"  he  said,  "  were  all  drawn  from  the 
Bible,  and  he  must  have  a  new  Bible  before  he  could  have  a 
new  political  creed."  * 

If  the  attitude  of  Wesleyan  Methodism  toward  political 
matters  was  conservative  no  such  charge  can  be  brought 
forward  in  regard  to  its  philanthropy.  The  great  out- 
burst of  philanthropy  which  accompanied  the  origin  of 
Methodism  ^  had  enough  vitality  to  extend  itself  partially 
through  the  so-called  "  middle  period  "  of  the  church.  This 
benevolence,  combined  with  a  religious  generosity  in  regard 
to  tenets  of  salvation  * — regarding  all  who  loved  God  as  the 
elect, — put  enough  heart  into  the  followers  of  Wesley  to 
effect  some  practical  results  which  influenced  indirectly  their 
political  life.  The  most  notable  of  this  philanthropic  work 
must  be  reckoned  the  activity  of  the  Methodists  in  factory 
reform.  Richard  Oastler,  Michael  Thomas  Sadler  and 
Rev.  J.  R.  Stephens,  the  men  who  made  factory  reform  a 

'  Bunting,  Life  of  Jahez  Bunting,  vol.  ii,  p.  346. 
'  Methodism  as  It  Is,  vol.  ii,  p.  415. 
'  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  241,  242. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  343. 

'  North,  Early  Methodist  Philanthropy  (New  York,  1914). 

•  Holyoake,  Life  of  J.  R.  Stephens  (London,  1881),  p.  78. 


94  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [5 58 

great  cause,  were  all  nurtured  in  the  Methodist  Church.' 
The  agitation  for  the  ten-hour  bill  and  factory  reform, 
which  these  three  instituted,  was  a  distinct  contributing  force 
to  the  org^ization  of  the  Chartist  movement,^  as  was  also 
the  opposition  to  the  New  Poor  Law  which  found  its 
mouthpiece  in  Stephens  and  Oastler.* 

It  was  only  a  step  from  the  opposition  to  the  New  Poor 
Law  to  Chartism,  and,  although  Stephens  reiterated  that  he 
was  no  Chartist,*  he  was  a  frequent  speaker  at  Chartist 
meetings.  At  Kersall  Moor  he  seconded  a  resolution  in 
favor  of  the  Charter  and  he  was  elected  a  representative 
from  Ashton  to  the  Convention  of  1839  ^  which  he  attended.' 
He  gave  momentary  adherence  to  the  Charter  because  no 
other  course  seemed  open  whereby  the  people  could  be 
helped.^  Tory  as  he  was,  his  Toryism  was  of  that  brand 
which  considered  the  welfare  of  the  people  the  most  im- 
portant issue.*  The  earnestness  with  which  he  believed  this' 
often  led  him  into  the  most  extravagant  and  inflammatory 
language,  entirely  unrestrained  by  prudence.  Incitement  to 
the  use  of  arms  was  the  distinguishing  burden  of  many 
of  his  orations.'  Arrested  on  December  27,  1838,  on  three 
separate  charges  of  attending  illegal  meetings  and  using 

1  Holyoake,  op.  cit.,  pp.  78  et  seq. 

2  Tildsley,  Die  Entstehung  und  die  okonomischen  Grundsatze  der 
Chartistenbewegung,  pp.  16  et  seq. 

» Ibid.,  p.  28. 

*  Holyoake,  Life  of  J.  R.  Stephens,  pp.  146,  155,  171 ;  Lovett,  op.  cit., 
P-  19s. 
'  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  57,  59,  61,  62,  92,  96. 
«  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  207 ;  Holyoake,  op.  cit.,  p.  143. 
^  Holyoake,  op.  cit.,  p.  232. 
"  Ibid.,  pp.  18  et  seq. 
•Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  56,  95;  lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  291. 


559]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  95 

seditious  language/  he  was  sentenced  in  August,  1839,  to 
eighteen  months'  imprisonment,  thus  having  the  "  honour 
of  being  the  first  man  on  whom  the  government  sought  to 
wreak  the  vengeance  of  the  law  "  ^  for  participation  in  the 
Chartist  movement.  One  of  the  best  known  and  popular 
leaders  at  the  time  of  his  arrest,  he  severed  himself  from 
Chartism  *  upon  his  release  but  remained  throughout  his 
life  active  in  social  work. 

Other  prominent  Chartists  also  had  their  first  religious 
affiliation  with  the  Methodists.  Lovett's  mother  was  a  most 
devoted  Methodist,*  while  he  for  a  while  belonged  to  the 
Bryanites  or  Bible  Christians.^  Thomas  Cooper  had  acted 
as  a  local  preacher  for  the  Methodists  in  Lincoln  but  was 
suspended  for  protesting  at  the  appointment  of  a  super- 
intendent,* voluntarily  resigned  from  the  connection  and 
soon  drifted  into  free  thought.  Joseph  Barker,  another 
erratic  genius  prominent  in  Chartism,  started  with  the  Meth- 
odists.^ Educated  at  Methodist  schools,  he  served  his  ap- 
prenticeship with  them  as  a  local  preacher  but  forsook  the 
Wesley ans  for  the  Methodist  New  Connexion.  From  this 
branch  he  was  expelled  in  1841  for  denying  the  divine  ap- 
pointment of  baptism.  With  him  seceded  twenty-nine 
churches  and  4,348  members.*  He  likewise  soon  drifted 
to  free-thought,  but  after  a  stormy  career  as  a  political  and 
religious  radical  he  returned  to  Christianity.' 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  48. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  99,  100. 

'  Holyoake,  op.  cit.,  p.  228. 

•  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  7. 

•  Ibid.,  p.  22. 

•  Cooper,  Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,  pp.  loi,  102. 

'  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  205. 

•  New  History  of  Methodism,  vol.  i,  p.  525. 

•  Barker,  Modern  Skepticism:  a  Life  Story,  pcissim. 


96  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [560 

III.    THE   OTHER   NONCONFORMIST    CHURCHES 

Although  the  membership  of  the  other  Nonconformist 
churches  was  recruited  largely  from  the  bourgeoisie,  there 
was,  broadly  speaking,  among  both  pastor  and  people  of  these 
denominations  a  more  tolerant  attitude  toward  a  further 
extension  of  the  franchise  than  that  evinced  by  either  the 
State  Church  or  the  Wesleyan  Methodists.  The  committee 
appointed  to  organize  the  Complete  Suffrage  Movement  and 
call  the  conference  reported  a  constantly  growing  class, 
"  which  included  many  ministers  of  religion  ",  of  those  who 
had 

long  been  dissatisfied  with  the  manifest  injustice  of  any  system 
of  representation  that  excluded  the  majority  from  all  share  in 
their  own  government,  but  who  have  hitherto  kept  aloof  from 
taking  any  active  share  in  public  affairs,  partly  because  they 
wish  to  avoid  the  strife  of  men  and  tongues  and  partly  because 
no  practical  remedy  had  yet  been  offered  which  there  appeared 
much  chance  of  attaining.^ 

The  committee  further  reported  that  "  Nearly,  if  not  more 
than  two  hundred  ministers  of  religion,  of  almost  all  de- 
nominations, have  signed  the  declaration  or  memorial  ",  and 
continued  with  an  optimism  hardly  warranted,  "  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  greater  number  of  those  not 
endowed  by  the  state  will  do  so  when  called  on."  ^ 

While  the  cooperation  of  so  many  dissenting  ministers  in 
the  holding  of  a  Complete  Suffrage  Conference  was  one 
of  the  most  significant  facts  in  the  whole  problem  of  the 
relationship  between  the  Chartist  movement  and  the  church, 
it  should  not  be  overestimated.  The  signing  of  the  memor- 
ial did  not  bind  them  to  endorse  the  proceedings  of  the 
conference  nor  did  it  make  Chartists  of  them.     Complete 

*  Proceedings  of  the  Conference,  p.  5.  '  Ibid.,  p.  7. 


56 1 ]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  97 

suffrage  was,  while  the  most  important,  only  one  of  the 
Six  Points.  The  state  of  mind  of  the  average  dissenting 
minister,  liberally  inclined,  was  nowhere  better  expressed 
than  in  a  speech  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Andrew  Marshall 
in  Edinburgh  on  December  16,  1840,  and  later  published 
as  an  Address  to  the  Dissenting  Ministers  of  Scotland 
(United  Secession  Synod).  The  working  classes,  said 
Marshall,  have  long  since  been  alienated  from  the  State 
Church  and  have  long  regarded  its  clergy  as  their  enemies. 
They  are  now  coming  to  look  upon  the  dissenting  ministers 
in  the  same  light.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  latter,  as  the  best 
qualified,  to  stem  the  current  and  save  the  masses  to  the 
church  and  to  morality,  peace  and  order.  The  only  way 
that  this  can  be  done  is  to  show  some  sympathy  toward  their 
efforts  for  an  extended  franchise.  This  the  ministers 
should  do,  not  by  political  agitation  for  the  Charter 
nor  by  making  speeches  or  holding  meetings,  but  simply 
by  avowing  "  on  all  proper  occasions  "  that  they  were  "  in 
favor  of  a  more  extended  suffrage  ".^  As  to  the  Chartists, 
he  condemns  their  methods  and  states  that  there  are  prob- 
ably few  dissenting  ministers  ianywhere  more  obnoxious  to 
them  than  himself,  several  having  left  his  church  because 
of  his  attitude.^  This  speech  when  delivered  caused  great 
excitement  in  the  meeting  and  the  interruptions  were  so 
frequent  that  Marshall  had  to  stop  before  he  had  finished 
it.^  It  expressed,  nevertheless,  the  prevailing  sentiment 
of  those  ministers  who  signed  the  Complete  Suffrage  Me- 
morial. The  Nonconformist  ministers,  as  they  were  for 
the  most  part  responsible  only  to  their  own  congregations, 
were  often  in  a  position  to  enter  actively  into  political  agi- 

*  Marshall,  The  Duty  of  Attempting  to  Reconcile  the  Unenfranchised 
with  the  Enfranchised  Classes,  p.  14. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  10. 
*Ihid.,  p.  15. 


pg  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [562 

tation  if  they  could  carry  a  majority  of  their  people  with 
them,  and  some  felt  themselves  in  duty  bound  to  do  so. 

The  difference  between  the  political  attitude  of  the  leaders 
of  Wesleyan  Methodism  and  of  Congregationalism  was  not 
very  great.  Although  it  is  true  that  several  Congregation- 
alists  participated  in  the  Anti-Corn  Law  Conference/  but 
few  of  the  leaders,  especially  those  in  London,  would  enter- 
tain for  a  moment  the  idea  of  the  denomination,  as  such, 
concerning  itself  in  political  matters.  This  feeling  was 
carried  to  the  extent,  that  even  in  the  matter  of  the  separa- 
tion of  church  and  state  any  active  political  agitation  was 
firmly  opposed  by  such  men  as  Conder  and  Vaughan,  who 
were  able  to  obtain  the  support  of  the  Congregational  Magor 
zine  and  the  official  promulgations  of  the  Congregational 
Union.^ 

The  conservatism  of  the  majority  and  of  the  London 
leaders,  however,  was  decidedly  distasteful  to  a  small  but 
active  and  growing  minority  in  the  provinces.  Unable 
longer  to  keep  silence  under  what  was  considered  "  the  be- 
trayal of  their  sacred  trust  ",^  this  group,  with  the  aid  of 
the  advocates  of  voluntaryism  of  all  denominations,  deter- 
mined upon  the  establishment  of  a  weekly  newspaper  in 
London,  "  having  for  its  aim  the  faithful  and  persistent 
exposition  of  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty."  * 
Consequently,  on  April  14,  1841,  the  first  issue  of  the  Non- 
conformist appeared  under  the  editorship  of  Edward  Miall, 
who  quickly  developed  into  one  of  the  most  brilliant  jour- 
nalists of  the  time-  Although  proposed  principally  to  give 
voice  to  the  Disestablishment  movement,  the  Nonconform- 

*  Waddington,  Congregational  History,  Continuation  to  1850,  pp.  557 
et  seq. 

2  Ihid.,  pp.  548,  551,  553  et  seq.,  $72,  574  et  seq. 
^Ibid.,  p.  551. 

*  Miall,  Life  of  Edward  Miall,  p.  38. 


563]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  99 

ist  soon  became  the  exponent  of  liberalism  on  all  lines.  The 
question  of  the  suffrage  was  taken  up  with  characteristic 
vigor  in  a  series  of  editorials,  the  influence  of  which  was  so 
great  that  it  became  the  official  organ  of  the  National  Com- 
plete Suffrage  Union.  ^  Its  success  was  immediate,  its  circu- 
lation jumping  from  a  few  hundreds  to  two  thousand  at  the 
end  of  the  first  year,^  showing  that  the  radicalism  of  Miall 
was  far  from  offensive  to  many  Nonconformists.  Although 
warmly  welcomed  and  frequently  quoted  by  the  Chartist 
press  and  by  liberal  papers  of  all  shades  of  opinion,  it  en- 
countered great  opposition  in  religious  circles.  "  The 
authorities  were  clearly  against  it,"  said  Miall,  while  "  all 
mention  of  it  was  studiously  avoided  in  those  periodical 
publications  which  Dissenters  are  wont  to  consult."  *  Natur- 
ally it  was  not  long  before  the  Nojtconforinist  met  direct  op- 
position from  the  Congregational  Magazine*  and  the  powers 
in  the  church.®  Fortunately  Miall  found  an  ally  in  the 
Eclectic  Review,  edited  by  Dr.  Price,  which,  while  not 
going  so  far  in  its  political  views  as  the  Nonconformist, 
yet  put  itself  unhesitatingly  on  the  side  of  both  political  and 
religious  reforms.®  The  aim  of  Dr.  Price  was  "  to  win  the 
mass  of  the  people  by  advocating  their  cause  in  relation  to 
political  rights."  ' 

To  counteract  the  influence  of  the  Eclectic,  Vaughan  and 
his  associates  of  the  conservative  Congregational  school  de- 
cided a  new  periodical  was  necessary,  and  the  British  Quar- 
terly Review  was  the  result.*      The  number  of  Congrega- 

1  Miall,  Life  of  Edward  Miall,  p.  87.     See  infra,  p.  113. 
^Ihid.,  p.  54- 

•  Ibid.,  p.  54. 

*  Waddington,  op.  cit,  p.  572.  '  Ibid.,  p.  553. 

•  April,  1843. 

'  Waddington,  op.  cit.,  p.  578. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  557.  578. 


lOo  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [564 

tional  journals  was  also  augrnented  all  this  time  by  Dr. 
John  Campbell  (1795-1867)  who  was  in  turn  editor  of  the 
Christian  Witness,  the  Christian  Penny  Magazine,  and  the 
British  Bminer.  Campbell  was  inclined  to  take  a  middle 
course.  While  believing  that  there  was  no  great  discontent 
in  the  country/  he  was  yet  willing  to  advocate  a  reformation 
of  the  House  of  Lords  and  triennial  parliaments.  Uni- 
versal suffrage,  however,  was  entirely  out  of  the  question; 
the  utmost  that  could  "  rationally  be  expected,  or  prudently 
desired  ",  said  he,  "  is  Household  Suffrage."  ^ 

In  this  manner  each  type  of  political  thought  had  repre- 
sentatives upon  the  Congregational  press.  While  the  con- 
servatives were  decidedly  predominant  in  official  circles, 
the  radicalism  of  the  Miall  school  was  slowly  forcing  its 
way  to  the  front  and  was  destined  in  later  years  to  affect 
greatly  the  policies  of  the  denomination. 

Of  all  the  Nonconformist  denominations,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  the  Unitarians,  the  Baptists  probably 
showed  the  most  sympathy  toward  the  democratic  schemes 
of  the  Chartists.  This  was  partially  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  whole  tone  of  the  church  was  more  radical  than  that, 
for  instance,  of  the  Congregational.  This  was  excellently 
illustrated  during  the  effort  for  the  separation  of  church  and 
state.  While  only  a  small  advanced  party  of  Congrega- 
tionalists  were  in  favor  of  an  active  political  campaign  for 
this  reform,  an  overwhelming  majority  of  Baptists  were 
committed  to  it.  At  the  Conference  of  the  Liberation  So- 
ciety in  1844  the  Baptists  were  the  only  denomination  to 
send  delegates.'     In  a  similar  manner  the  Eclectic  Review, 

'  Reformer's  Almanac,  p.  200. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  205. 

'  Carlile,  Story  of  the  English  Baptists,  p.  227. 


565]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  lOi 

a  liberal  paper  favorable  to  an  increase  in  the  suffrage/  was 
the  literary  periodical  of  only  the  radical  wing  of  the  Con- 
gregationalists,  but  of  the  great  majority  of  the  Baptists. 

Still  more  radical  than  the  Eclectic  Review  were  the  Nofi- 
conformist,  largely  supported  by  the  Baptists,  and  the  Church 
Baptist  Penny  Mc^azine  founded  in  1848.^  The  liberal  in- 
fluence of  these  papers  was  greatly  augmented  by  the  well- 
known  advanced  political  views  of  many  of  the  leading 
ministers  of  the  denomination.  Among  these  men  were 
George  Dawson/  one  of  the  most  famous  of  nineteenth- 
century  English  preachers;  J.  P.  Mursell/  prominent  in  the 
Complete  Suffrage  Conference;  Eustace  Giles,  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Baptist  Union  and  one  of  the  best  friends 
the  Chartists  had  amongst  the  middle  class;  John  Jenkin- 
son  of  Kettering,  active  in  Chartism ;  ^  and  William  Jack- 
son of  Manchester,  who  was  sentenced  to  eighteen  months 
imprisonment  for  "  maliciously  conspiring  and  inciting  the 
people  of  this  country  to  make  riots,  to  arm  with  weapons 
of  offense,  and  with  divers  other  acts  for  the  promotion  of 
rebellion."  "  The  Baptists  were  also  fortunate  in  having 
at  their  head  such  men  as  Dr.  Steane  who  were  willing  to 
take  the  lead  in  social  reform. 

Carlile,  a  leading  Baptist  historian,  goes  so  far  as  to  say 
that  the  sympathies  of  the  Baptists  for  Chartism  were 
expressed  by  Thomas  Cooper.'     Although  this  is  an  exag- 

^  Minutes  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Conference  of  Representatives  of 
the  Middle  and  Working  Classes,  p.  7 ;  Eclectic  Magazine,  April,  1843. 

'  The  Republican,  p.  40,  favorably  reviews  it,  saying  "  that  its  political 
tendency  is  toward  Democracy." 
'  Afterwards  left  the  Baptists  and  started  an  independent  church. 
*  English  Chartist  Circular,  p.  181. 
5  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  37. 
*Ibid.,  pp.  178,  179;  also  152. 
'  Carlile,  Story  of  the  English  Baptists,  pp.  224,  225.  .'    ; 


I02  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [566 

geration,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Chartist  principles  made 
considerable  headway  in  the  denomination.  O'Neill  ob- 
tained a  large  part  of  the  membership  of  his  Christian 
Chartist  Church  from  the  Baptists/  and  Disraeli  in  his 
Chartist  novel  makes  one  of  the  inner  circle  of  conspirators 
a  Baptist  teacher.^  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  two  of 
the  leading  Chartist  agitators,  Cooper  *  and  O'Neill,*  later 
became  ministers  in  that  denomination,  as  did  also  Charles 
Vince." 

In  proportion  to  their  membership  the  Quakers  had  un- 
doubtedly surpassed  all  denominations  of  English  Chris- 
tians in  their  philanthropy.  The  names  of  Joseph  Lancaster 
and  William  Allen  in  education,  Clarkson  and  Gumey  in 
the  anti-slavery  movement,  and  Elizabeth  Fry  in  prison 
reform,  are  sufficient  to  indicate  in  a  slight  degree  this  fact. 
It  was  not  a  mere  accident  that  four  of  the  six  partners 
whom  Owen  associated  with  himself  in  the  New  Lanark 
scheme  in  18 13  were  Quakers.* 

The  emphasis  upon  benevolence  was  encouraged  in  the 
official  promulgations  of  the  society,  issued  at  the  Yearly 
Meetings  in  London  ^  which  are  filled  with  wholesome 
advice  upon  all  sorts  of  subjects  including  the  con- 
duct of  business.  In  these  epistles  the  society  does  not  hesi- 
tate to  state  boldly  its  detestation  of  war,*  of  the  slave 

•  Solly,  James  Woodford,  vol.  ii,  p.  90. 
'  Disraeli,  Sybil,  p.  375. 

'  Cooper,  Life  of  Cooper,  pp.  380,  381. 

*Gammage,  History  of  the  Chartist  Movement,  p.  402. 

•  Richard,  Memoirs  of  Sturge,  p.  328, 

•  Podmore,  Life  of  Owen,  vol.  i,  p.  97.  Owen,  however,  accuses 
Allen,  one  of  the  four,  of  secretly  trying  to  undermine  his  views  and 
authority.    Owen's  Life,  vol.  i,  p.  141. 

'  Christian  Discipline,  pp.  125-130. 
« Ibid.,  pp.  153,  158. 


567]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  103 

trade/  of  oaths,  and  of  tithes  and  all  ecclesiastical  assump- 
tion,^ yet  desires  it  to  be  known  that  the  Quakers,  where 
conscience  is  not  infringed,  are  anxious  to  be  considered 
amongst  the  "  quiet  in  the  land  "  and  in  full  subjection  to 
the  civil  government.^  While  ambitious  that  the  members 
should  cooperate  in  every  benevolent  scheme,  the  epistles 
are  in  great  fear  lest  these  endeavors  may  involve  them  in 
party  |>olitics  which  endanger  the  virtues  they  hold  dear  * 
and  have  a  tendency  to  lead  them  "  away  from  that  patient 
exercise  of  spirit  and  that  quiet  self-examination,  which 
are  not  only  conducive  but  necessary  to  a  growth  in  grace."  ' 
Notwithstanding  the  frequent  warnings  of  the  Yearly 
Meetings  many  Quakers  felt  it  their  duty  actively  and 
strenuously  to  enter  the  arena  of  party  politics  in  behalf 
of  the  Factory  Acts  and  in  opposition  to  the  Com  Laws." 
It  was  not  at  all  illogical,  then,  that  when  the  attempt  was 
made  to  reconcile  the  middle  and  lower  classes  on  a 
basis  of  complete  suffrage,  Joseph  Sturge,  the  most  noted 
philanthropist  of  his  time  and  a  Quaker,  should  be  chosen 
almost  by  tacit  consent  to  lead  the  movement.  The  honesty 
of  his  motives  was  too  obvious  to  be  questioned  by  either 
Chartist  or  Tory,  while  the  unselfishness  with  which  he  had 
previously  cooperated  in  philanthropic  labors  assured  for 
any  scheme  which  he  might  advocate  at  least  a  hearing  from 
all  parties.''      With   the   same  enthusiasm   he  had   shown 

1  Christian  Discipline,  pp.  159-163.  '  Ibid.,  pp.  137  et  seq. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  132  et  seq.  *  Epistles,  vol.  ii,  p.  303. 

'  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  314;  also  vol.  ii,  pp.  301,  332. 

•  Emmott,  The  Story  of  Quakerism,  p.  179. 

''  "  In  such  case  your  name  is  the  very  best  in  all  England  to  head  the 
list.  I  say  this  without  compliment,  or  even  views  of  doing  you  justice, 
but  simply  with  an  eye  to  policy.  You  have  so  much  of  established 
reputation  to  fall  back  upon  that  your  standing  with  the  middle  class 
would  not  be  endangered  by  a  course  which  might  peril  the  character 
and  endanger  the  usefulness  of  most  others.     You  should  carry  with 


I04  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [56S 

in  the  emancipation  agitation,  Sturge  threw  himself  into 
the  activities  of  the  Complete  Suffrage  Union,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  this  political  move  was  observed  with 
sorrow  and  disapproval  by  many  members  of  his  own  re- 
ligious society.*  Among  the  delegates  at  the  Complete 
Suffrage  Conference  was  the  Quaker,  John  Bright,  des- 
tined to  do  even  more  than  Sturge  in  the  cause  of  democ- 
racy. Among  the  Chartists,  Vincent  seems  to  be  the  only 
one  of  prominence  who  inclined  toward  the  Quakers,'  al- 
though George  Binns  was  of  Quaker  parentage.' 

The  bugbear  of  Catholicism  was  ever  present  in  the  minds 
of  Englishmen  during  the  first  half  of  the  century.*  Poli- 
ticians had  but  to  raise  the  cry  of  papal  aggression,  and 
Churchmen  and  Dissenters  would  both  for  the  time  being 
forget  their  differences  in  the  face  of  this  greater  danger. 
It  was  consequently  to  be  expected  that  in  the  heat  of  re- 
crimination some  one  would  endeavor  to  prove  a  connec- 
tion between  the  Chartist  movement  and  Catholicism.  It 
so  turned  out  and  the  charge  was  not  infrequently  made. 
It  had  a  touch  of  plausibility  about  it  because  several  of 
the  leaders,  like  O'Connor  and  O'Brien,  were  Irishmen, 
Even  O'Connell  in  the  early  days  of  Chartism  had  pro- 
fessed to  give  it  his  support.'  But  O'Connell  soon  changed 
his  stand  and  became  a  bitter  opponent.*     O'Neill,  another 

you  the  philanthropists  of  the  religious  world,  or  at  least  neutralize 
their  opposition,  and  without  their  aid  no  moral  victory  can  be  achieved 
in  this  age  and  country."  Letter  to  Sturge  from  Cobden,  Nov.  21, 
1841.    Memoirs,  p.  299. 

*  Richard,  Memoirs  of  Sturge,  p.  330. 

*  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  vol.  Iviii,  p.  358. 
"  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  32. 

*  New  History  of  Methodism,  vol.  i,  pp.  349,  399;  Methodist  Minutes. 
vol.  ix,  pp.  103,  III,  112. 

»  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  6.  •  Jbid^  p.  7. 


569]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  105 

Chartist  leader  with  an  Irish  name,  ended  his  career  as  a 
Baptist  minister,  while  neither  O'Connor  nor  O'Brien  could 
be  reasonably  accused  of  being  Jesuits  ^  by  any  one  who 
had  chanced  to  read  the  fiery  denunciations  of  priestcraft 
which  frequently  appeared  in  their  periodicals.^ 

The  Catholics,  like  the  Protestants,  were  not  slow  in 
making  their  influence  felt  in  politics  if  their  interests 
demanded  it.  The  difference  was  that  they  wasted  no  time 
in  pious  protestations  that  it  was  no  business  of  theirs 
as  men  of  God.*  Catholicism  in  Ireland  had  always  been 
recognized  as  a  leading  influence  in  politics,  and  this  influ- 
ence Catholics  did  not  hesitate  to  exert  in  England.  Several 
Catholic  priests  attended  and  addressed  the  Anti-Corn  Law 
Conference,  and  one,  Rev.  Thaddeus  O'Malley,  the  famous 
Irish  radical,  became  prominent  in  the  latter  stages  of  the 
Chartist  movement,  being  elected  delegate  from  Notting- 
ham *  to  the  National  Assembly  which  met  in  London  on 
May  I,  1848. 

The  poorest  and  most  degraded  part  of  the  population  of 
many  of  the  English  cities  was  composed  largely  of  Irish 
immigrants,  who  were  Catholics,  of  course,  and  often  Char- 
tists. But  the  participation  of  Catholicism  in  the  Chartist 
movement  was  always  casual  and  incidental,  never  in  any 
way  general  or  official. 

With  the  adoption  of  more  radical  political  views  came 
the  transition  on  the  part  of  many  Chartists  to  more  radical 
religious  views.  Rev.  Henry  Solly  and  Rev.  Joseph  Barker, 
both  leading  Chartists,  left  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the 

^  Stowell,  No  Revolution. 

*  The  Movement,  p.  303  (Aug.  24,  18I44),  reprints  article  from  North- 
ern Star.  For  O'Brien,  see  The  Social  Reformer,  pp.  29,  84,  and 
McDouall's  Chartist  and  Republican  Journal,  pp.  149,  150. 

*  Meth.  Min.,  vol.  viii,  p.  105. 

*  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  322,  324. 


Io6  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [570 

Methodist  New  Connexion,  respectively,  for  Unitarianism. 
As  with  the  ministers  so  with  the  workingmen.  The  wide 
range  of  thought  allowed  to  Unitarians  and  the  cultural 
emphasis  in  their  teaching  were  very  appealing  to  the  Chart- 
ists and  are  excellently  portrayed  in  Alton  Locke.^  A  cor- 
respondent of  The  People  writes  of  a  village  in  Scotland 
(Tillicoultry)  in  which  Unitarianism  was  the  popular  reli- 
gion, due  largely  to  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Browning,  the 
Unitarian  minister,  who  was  a  "  Chartist,  a  Teetotaler,  a 
Peace  Advocate,  and  a  true  friend  of  Education  ".  W.  J. 
Fox,  noted  Anti-Corn  Law  lecturer  and  political  reformer, 
was  perhaps  the  leading  Unitarian  minister  in  England. 

The  Tillicoultry  correspondent,  while  admitting  that  not 
a  few  Unitarian  Christians  endeavor  to  make  the  profes- 
sion of  "  their  boasted  recognition  of  the  brotherhood  of 
man  "  the  standard  for  their  political  practice,  yet  fears  that 
the  habit  is  not  so  general  as  could  be  wished.  He  goes  on 
to  say  that  in  the  ten  years  he  has  been  a  Unitarian  he  has 
won  more  converts  than  many  ministers  and  that  he  has  suc- 
ceeded best  among  the  Chartists.  This  success  he  attributes 
chiefly  to  the  fact  that  he  endeavored  "  to  make  Christianity 
a  practical  thing  ".^ 

Barker  felt  the  opposition  of  the  conservative  Unitarians 
in  an  attack  made  upon  him  by  the  Inquirer,  a  Uni- 
tarian paper,  in  which  he  was  characterized  as  "  a  destroyer 
of  peace  and  order  "  and  "  an  organ  of  discord  and  vio- 
lence ",  whose  object  was  to  stir  up  enmity  among  his  fellow 
citizens  and  set  the  poor  at  war  with  the  rich.^  To  this  tirade 
Barker  replied  that  the  Inquirer  no  longer  represented  the 

'  Kingsley,  Alton  Locke,  chap.  xxii. 
2  The  People,  vol.  i,  p.  22. 
'  Ibid.,  p,  22. 


571]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  107 

feelings  of  the  majority  of  the  Unitarians  as  it  had  under 
the  editorship  of  William  Hincks,  but  only  of  a  small  class 
of  the  less  enlightened.  To  the  group  who  were  offended 
with  his  political  proceedings  and  who  believed  that  he  was 
bringing  dishonor  upon  the  denomination/  he  replied  in  a 
series  of  five  articles  ^  in  which  he  sought  to  justify  himself 
and  vindicate  Chartism  in  a  discussion  of  each  of  its  points. 
If  the  testimony  of  Barker  is  to  be  considered  at  all  trust- 
worthy it  would  seem  that  the  Six  Points  found  favor  with 
a  large  class,  if  not  a  majority,  of  his  denomination.  In 
respect  to  this  question  as  to  many  others  of  this  discussion 
the  sources  are  too  meagre  to  allow  of  any  definite  statement. 

IV.   SCOTLAND 

With  the  Scottish  church  torn  by  a  religious  strife  which 
resulted  in  the  secession  of  1843  ^.nd  the  formation  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland  there  was  little  chance  of  the 
Chartist  cause  receiving  much  attention  from  either  the 
wrought-up  clergy  who  seceded  or  those  who  remained 
in  the  Establishment.  The  latter  received,  as  in  England, 
only  abuse  and  condemnation  from  the  Chartist  press  ^  and 
on  the  Chartist  platform.* 

The  Established  Church  of  Scotland  did,  however,  boast 
of  at  least  one  political  radical  who  stayed  with  it  at  the 
time  of  the  secession.  This  was  the  famous  Patrick  Brews- 
ter ( 1 788-1859)  of  Paisley.  Noted  among  the  free  traders 
as  the  only  member  of  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland 
who  attended  the  Conference  of  Ministers  at  Manchester, 
he  was  equally  beloved  by  the  Chartists  for  his  active  and 

1  The  People,  vol.  i,  p.  4. 
'  Ibid.,  pp.  4,  13,  28,  49,  57. 
'  Chartist  Circular,  p.  109. 

*  Memoranda  of  the  Chartist  Agitation  in  Dundee,  pp.  34,  38;  Gam- 
mage,  op.  cit.,  p.  81. 


I08  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [572 

unceasing  cooperation.  As  early  as  the  fall  of  1838  he  had 
assumed  a  leading  position  amongst  the  Moral  Force 
Chartists  of  Scotland,  and  was  on  this  point  a  strong  anta- 
gonist of  Feargus  O'Connor,  whom  he  thought  an  honest 
man  but  mistaken  as  to  methods.^  Brewster  was  a  member 
of  both  the  Complete  Suffrage  Convention  and  the  Scottish 
Chartist  Convention  of  1842.  As  an  advocate  of  teetotal- 
ism,^  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  repeal  of  the  Com  Laws, 
a  national  system  of  education,  and  the  Charter,  his  whole 
life  was  a  continual  succession  of  disputes.  The  preach- 
ing of  a  series  of  sermons  on  Chartism  and  Militarism 
aroused  the  antagonism  of  the  Paisley  authorities.  In  con- 
junction with  the  Glasgow  Presbytery  they  petitioned  the 
Synod  that  he  be  removed  on  the  charge  of  having  preached  a 
sermon  in  the  Christian  Chartist  Church  in  Glasgow  and 
thereby  "  giving  countenance  to  a  body  of  men,  whose  prin- 
ciples were  unchristian  and  demoralizing  ",  conduct  "  highly 
censurable  in  any  minister  of  the  Gospel,  involving  a  viola- 
tion of  the  Ecclesiastical  order,  a  contempt  of  decency,  a  pro- 
fanation of  the  Lord's  day,  a  desecration  of  the  Christian 
ministry,  and  a  mischievous  encouragement  of  a  system  of 
disorganization  and  misrule  both  in  Church  and  State." ' 
The  charge  was  dismissed  but  the  Presbytery  soon  found  op- 
portunity for  further  complaint  on  the  ground  that  Brewster 
had  libelled  the  military.  For  this  offense  he  was  illegally 
suspended  for  a  year,  notwithstanding  a  memorial  signed 
by  1,600  of  his  parishioners  denying  the  charges  and  ap- 
proving the  discourses.  The  proceedings  were  eventually 
cancelled.*     In  the  charges  he  had  been  accused  of  "  per- 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  84,  198. 
'  Chartist  Circular,  pp.  284,  285. 

•  The  Seven  Chartist  and  Military  Discourses,  p.  410. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  412. 


573]  ATTITUDE  OF  THE  CHURCHES  109 

version  and  prostitution  of  the  ordinance  of  preaching " 
by  introducing  into  his  discourses,  "  worldly  and  secular 
politics  and  affairs  ",  particularly  "  corn  laws,  poor  laws 
and  the  administration  thereof,  statements  and  sentiments 
calculated  to  render  those  to  whom  they  are  addressed  dis- 
contented with  their  condition  and  to  excite  their  passions".^ 
Always  ready  to  do  battle  for  the  wrongs  of  the  people, 
Brewster  carried  his  fight  in  behalf  of  the  poor  even  into 
the  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.^  His  ministry  in 
Paisley  covered  about  forty-one  years.' 

Although  the  Chartists  naturally  expected  little  sympathy 
from  the  Established  Church,  they  did  on  at  least  two  occa- 
sions, endeavor  to  interest  the  secessionists,  believing  that 
men  with  liberal  ideas  as  to  church  government  might  be 
affected  similarly  in  regard  to  secular  government.  Added 
force  was  given  to  this  idea  by  the  fact  that  Rev.  John 
Ritchie  of  Edinburgh,  a  universal  suffragist,  was  a  leader 
in  the  secession  movement.  Consequently  the  Universal 
Suffrage  Central  Committee  of  Scotland  addressed  a 
memorial  to  the  Relief  Synod  *  and  also  to  the  United  Seces- 
sion Synod  ^  urging  upon  the  members  in  the  name  of  all 
that  Christianity  stood  for  to  be  "  neither  neutral  nor  in- 
active in  this  great  and  holy  warfare  of  principle  ".'  It  is 
not  recorded  that  these  memorials  made  any  impression  or 
met  with  any  success. 

*  The  Seven  Chartist  and  Military  Discourses,  p.  416. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  421. 

3  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  vol.  vi,  p.  304. 

*  Chartist  Circular,  p.  141. 
'^  Ibid.,  p.  161. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  141. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Positive  Contribution  of  the  Church  ro  the 
Chartist  Movement 

I.  the  work  of  the  clergy 

Having  attempted  to  diagnose  the  attitude  of  the  aver- 
age English  workingman  towards  Christianity  as  exempli- 
fied in  the  British  churches  and  having  examined  the  gen- 
eral feeling  on  the  part  of  the  churches  towards  the  Chartist 
movement,  it  remains  in  the  final  chapter  only  to  gather  the 
threads  together  and  to  put  into  concrete  form  the  actual 
contributions  of  the  church  to  the  agitation  for  the  People's 
Charter  and  "  the  first  workingmen's  party  of  modem 
times  ".^  Although  "  both  chapel  and  church  were  largely 
hostile  to  the  Chartist  movement  ",^  there  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  on  the  part  of  not  a  few  individuals  officially  connected 
with  organized  Christianity  a  sympathy  for  a  more  complete 
democracy  and  a  willingness  to  work  and  suffer  in  the  cause. 

The  most  obvious  way  to  be  of  service  was  to  aid  in 
public  meetings  and,  especially  in  the  early  years  of  the 
movement,  it  was  not  an  infrequent  spectacle  to  behold  min- 
isters of  various  denominations  gracing  the  stage  at  the 
huge  open-air  gatherings  and  torch-light  processions.  Rev. 
Arthur  S.  Wade  of  London,  clergyman  of  the  Established 
Church  and  one  of  the  deputies  of  the  London  Working- 
men's  Association  appointed  to  attend  a  Glasgow  demon- 

*  Engels.  Socialism  Utopian  and  Scientific,  Intro.,  p.  xxx. 
'  Hall,  op.  cit.,  p.  173. 

-ic  [574 


575]      POSITIVE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH        m 

stration/  addressed  a  meeting  estimated  at  200,000,'  and 
in  September  of  the  same  year  was  one  of  the  speakers  at 
the  Palace  Yard  meeting  in  Birmingham.*  Patrick  Brewster 
of  the  Scotch  EstabHshment  did  not  confine  his  Chartist 
discourses  to  his  pulpit  but  was  a  frequent  speaker  at  Chart- 
ist gatherings,  thereby  incurring  the  wrath  of  O'Connor, 
whose  Physical  Force  ravings  he  strenuously  opposed,  es- 
pecially in  a  speech  at  Carlton  Hill,  Edinburgh.*  Rev.  W. 
J.  Fox,  Unitarian,  was  a  speaker  with  Wade  at  the  Palace 
Yard  meeting,  while  Rev.  J.  C.  Meeke,  Unitarian,  and  Rev. 
John  Jenkinson  of  Kettering  addressed  the  Chartists  of 
Northampton  in  1838  from  the  same  platform.'  Rev. 
William  Hill,  Swedenborgian  and  O'Connor's  right-hand 
man,  was  a  prominent  orator  during  the  entire  period. 
Joseph  Barker  came  forward  as  a  Chartist  lecturer  during 
the  revival  of  1848.*  J.  R.  Stephens,  however,  was  un- 
doubtedly the  most  noted  minister  in  any  way  connected 
with  the  movement.^  Many  others  were  occasional  speakers. 
The  prominence  of  these  ministers  in  the  cause  of  reform 
led  the  Chartists  in  several  instances  to  elect  them  to  official 
standing  in  the  movement.  To  the  first  and  most  famous 
convention  which  met  in  London  in  February,  1839,  one 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  and  one  Dissenting 
minister  were  elected.®  Dr.  Wade  represented  Nottingham' 
and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  convention  until  he  with  many 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  21. 

*  Ihid.,  p.  20. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  47.  ;i 

*  Ibid.,  p.  84. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  37. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  323. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  56  et  seq. 
^  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  201. 
^  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  68. 


112  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [576 

others,  resigned  when  the  Physical  Force  party  became 
dominant/  Stephens  was  elected  for  Ashley^  but  later 
resigned,^  although  he  seems  to  have  been  present  at  the 
convention.*  To  the  National  Assembly  which  met  on  May 
I,  1848,  Joseph  Barker  and  Thaddeus  O'Malley,  the  latter 
a  Catholic  priest  and  political  radical,  were  elected  to  repre- 
sent Leeds  and  Nottingham  respectively. °  At  the  London 
Convention  of  1851,  Rev.  A.  Duncanson,  Congregationalist, 
represented  the  Paisley  district.  Patrick  Brewster  repre- 
sented Paisley  in  the  Scottish  Convention  of  1842.  On  the 
Birmingham  provisional  committee  for  the  Complete  Suf- 
frage Conference  of  1842  was  the  Rev.  James  Alsop,  while 
the  following  ministers  were  listed  as  attending :  J.  Jenkin- 
son,  of  Kettering;  Noah  Jones,  Derby;  Charles  Kirkland, 
Newark;  Edward  Miall,  Stoke  Newington;  T.  Harwood 
Morgan,  Stourbridge;  J.  P.  Mursell,  Leicester;  John  Ritchie, 
Edinburgh;  Henry  Solly,  Yeovil  and  Bridport;  Thomas 
Spencer,  Bath;  William  Thomas,  Fairfield,  and  Arthur  S. 
Wade,  London." 

Not  only  were  ministers  occasional  representatives  to 
Chartist  conventions  but  in  several  instances  the  conven- 
tions were  held  in  churches.  The  Scotch  Chartist  Conven- 
tion which  met  August  15,  1841,  at  Glasgow,  met  in  the 
Universalist  Church,^  and  the  Scotch  convention  of  1842 
was  also  held  in  a  church.®  The  conference  of  operatives 
held  in  Manchester  on  August  12th,  which  preceded  the 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  156. 

*  lUd.,  p.  62.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  6t. 

*  Lovett,  op.  cit.,  p.  207 ;  Holyoake,  Life  of  Stephens,  p.  143. 
5  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  322,  324. 

*  Minutes  of  the  Conference,  p.  41.    See  below  for  discussion  of  Com- 
plete Suffrage  Conference,  p.  no. 

'  Chartist  Circular,  preface,  p.  iv. 

^Ihid.,  p.  5". 


577]      POSITIVE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH        113 

Lancashire  riots  of  1842,  seems  to  have  been  held  at  the 
chapel  of  Scholefield,^ 

In  the  field  of  journalism  some  notable  work  was  ac- 
complished in  the  cause  of  democracy  by  ministers.  William 
Hill,  until  his  quarrel  with  O'Connor,  edited  the  Northern 
Star,  the  most  popular  of  the  Chartist  periodicals.  Edward 
Miall  permitted  the  Nonconformist  to  be  used  as  the  official 
organ  of  the  Complete  Suffrage  Union  and  brilliantly  up- 
held in  its  columns  the  principles  of  universal  suffrage. 
Joseph  Barker  was  the  publisher  of  The  People,  a  weekly 
periodical  with  a  circulation  of  20,000,  and  The  Reformer's 
Almanac.  J.  R.  Stephens  edited  The  Champion,  a  radical 
paper  for  workingmen,  although  hardly  an  advocate  of 
Chartism. 

Not  only  as  editors  did  many  of  the  ministers  assist  the 
Chartists  but  as  pamphleteers  as  well.  Some  of  the  edi- 
torials of  Miall  were  reprinted  as  pamphlets  and  issued  by 
the  National  Complete  Suffrage  Union.^  This  association 
published  other  tracts  from  the  pens  of  clergymen,  among 
which  were  The  Suffrage  Demonstrated  to  be  the  Right  of 
All  Men,  by  an  Appeal  to  Scripture  and  Common  Sense, 
being  the  substance  of  a  lecture  delivered  March,  1843,  by 
Rev.  J.  E.  Giles  of  Leeds,  and  The  People's  Rights,  and 
How  to   Get   Them,  by   Rev.   Thomas   Spencer,   M.   A.' 

1  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  218,  235. 

'  See  also  National  Reform  Tracts,  nos.  18,  19,  20. 

'  See  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  loc.  cit.,  for  a  list.  The  fol- 
lowing is  the  Hst  of  what  Spencer  considers  the  people's  rights:  "(i) 
The  right  to  earn  a  living  with  the  fewest  possible  impediments.  (2) 
The  right  to  keep  property  when  acquired  with  the  fewest  possible 
demands  upon  it.  (3)  The  right  of  every  man  to  worship  God  accord- 
ing to  his  conscience.  (4)  The  right  of  good  government.  (5)  The 
right  to  self-government  by  full,  fair,  and  free  representation."  Under 
this  head  he  recognizes  the  necessity  of  practically  all  of  the  demands 
of  the  Charter — '  The  People's  Rights,  and  How  to  Get  Them. 


114  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [578 

Sj)encer  wrote  a  long  series  of  pamphlets  of  an  extremely 
radical  type,  on  political  and  church  reform,  which  aroused 
the  Christian  Remembrancer  to  demand  how  it  happened 
that  a  clergyman  "  should  be  allowed  to  propagate  such 
pestilential  opinions  .  .  .  without  being  made  to  feel  the 
just  punishment  for  his  apostasy  by  being  degraded  and 
excommunicated  ".^  Benjamin  Parsons,  Congregationalist, 
also  wrote  a  series  of  pamphlets  on  reform  called  Tracts 
for  the  Fustian  Jackets  and  Smock  Frocks.^  Rev.  Henry 
Solly  wrote  at  some  length  on  What  Says  Christianity  to 
the  Present  Distress?,  while  Rev.  Alexander  Duncanson 
wrote  a  tract  on  The  Political  Rights  of  the  People.  Brews- 
ter's political  sermons  were  published  in  book  form  under 
the  title  of  The  Seven  Chartist  and  Military  Discourses 
Libelled  by  the  Marquis  of  Abercam,  and  Other  Heritors  of 
the  Abby  Parish.  Most  of  these  tracts  written  by  ministers 
are  an  attempt  to  reconcile  democracy  with  Christianity  and 
to  prove  that  support  of  universal  suffrage  is  demanded 
from  a  professor  of  Christianity. 

At  least  two  ministers  were  imprisoned  for  their  activities 
in  the  Chartist  movement.  J.  R.  Stephens  on  August  10, 
1839,  was  convicted  of  using  seditious  language  at  Hyde 
and  sentenced  to  eighteen  months  imprisonment  and  the 
giving  of  sureties  for  five  years.^  W.  V.  Jackson  was  con- 
victed of  seditious  conspiracy  on  March  24,  1840  at  Liver- 
pool assizes  and  sentenced  to  two  years  imprisonment  and 
the  finding  of  sureties  for  three  years.*     Several  others  were 

'  Christian  Remembrancer,  vol.  v,  p.  441. 

*  Hood,  The  Earnest  Minister  (London,  1846),  pp.  271  et  seq.;  also 
appendix  of  his  Life,  p.  500. 

'  Parliamentary  Accounts  and  Papers,  1840,  vol.  xxxviii,  no.  600,  p.  4; 
Gammage,  op.  cit.,  p.  157. 

*  Parliamentary  Accounts  and  Papers,  1840,  vol.  xxxviii,  no.  600,  p.  8; 
Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  178,  179. 


579]      POSITIVE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH        nj 

arrested  and  hailed  into  court  but  finally  discharged,  among 
whom  were  William  Essler,  dissenting  minister,  for  con- 
spiracy,^ William  Davies,  dissenting  minister,  for  harboring 
his  nephew,  a  traitor,^  and  James  Scholefield,  with  fifty-eight 
others,  because  he 

did  unlawfully  aid,  abet,  assist,  comfort,  support,  and  encourage 
certain  evil-disposed  persons  to  continue  and  persist  in  unlaw- 
ful assemblies,  threats,  intimidation,  and  violence;  and  in  im- 
peding and  stopping  of  the  labour  employed  in  certain  trades, 
manufactories,  and  business  with  intent  thereby  to  cause  terror 
and  alarm  in  the  minds  of  the  peaceable  subjects  of  this  realm, 
and  by  the  means  of  such  terror  and  alarm,  violently  and  un- 
lawfully to  cause  and  procure  certain  great  changes  in  the 
constitution  of  this  realm,  as  by  law  estabUshed.* 

Joseph  Barker  was  arrested  in  1848  on  the  charge  of  con- 
spiracy and  sedition  but  was  offered  his  discharge  on  condi- 
tion of  entering  into  his  own  recognizance  to  appear  when 
called  upon.  Having  fifty  witnesses  ready  he  refused  and 
demanded  a  trial.  "  The  Attorney  General  fumed  and 
fretted,  and  the  judge  insulted;  but  at  last  they  gave  up 
the  task  ",  and  the  former  entered  a  nolle  prosequi^ 

II.  THE  COMPLETE  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT 

The  Complete  Suffrage  movement  has  already  been  men- 
tioned several  times.  It  was  the  single  part  of  the  struggle 
for  democracy  during  the  last  hundred  years  in  England  in 
which  the  influence  of  the  clergy  and  ministers  was  im- 
portant, if  not  dominant.  The  Complete  Suffrage  move- 
ment, in  the  words  of  its  founders,  was  simply  an  attempt 

*  Parliamentary  Accounts  and  Papers,  1840,  vol.  xxxviii,  no.  600,  p.  6. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  6. 

3  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  232,  235. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  343;  Barker,  Modern  Skepticism:  A  Life  Story,  p.  252. 


Il6  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [580 

"  to  unite  two  dissevered  classes,  on  the  question  of  par- 
liamentary reform ",  and  "  by  peaceful  and  Christian 
means  alone  "  effect  "  a  full,  fair,  and  free  representation 
of  the  people  in  the  British  House  of  Commons  "/  It  was 
distinguished  from  Chartism  in  its  demands  in  that  it  in- 
sisted primarily  upon  only  one  of  the  Six  Points;  uni- 
versal manhood  suffrage.  In  its  antecedents  it  emanated  dis- 
tinctly from  the  middle  class,  and  included  the  members  of 
the  bourgeoisie  who  believed  that  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832 
fell  short  of  a  just  and  ideal  representation. 

Many  middle-class  clergy  and  laymen  had  long  deplored 
the  distrust  evinced  toward  them  by  the  working  classes  and 
the  consequent  alienation  of  those  classes  from  all  institutions 
looked  upon  as  characteristically  bourgeois,  in  particular 
the  church.  It  was  this  situation  that  led  Edward  Miall  in 
the  Nonconformist  to  urge  upon  his  middle-class  constitu- 
ency the  justice  of  the  new  demands,  and  their  duty  as  Chris- 
tians of  healing  the  breach  between  the  two  classes  by 
actively  aiding  in  the  fight  for  universal  suffrage.  The 
Eclectic  Review,  another  church  magazine  which  cooperated 
with  Miall,  bluntly  reduced  the  matter  to  an  affair  of  politi- 
cal expediency  when  it  said :  "  To  expect  to  make  head 
against  a  Tory  government  with  divided  forces  is  chimeri- 
cal ;  and  to  work  for  a  cooperation  of  the  industrious  classes 
without  an  equitable  regard  to  their  claims  is  to  insure  to 
ourselves  defeat  and  ruin."  ^ 

The  work  begun  by  Miall  in  his  notable  articles  was  taken 
up  by  Joseph  Sturge  upon  his  return  from  America,  when  he 
assumed  the  leadership  as  the  one  man  in  England  best  cal- 
culated to  conciliate  all  classes.  The  campaign  to  bring  all 
classes  together  on  the  basis  of  a  reform  of  the  franchise 

1  Minutes  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Conference,  p.  3. 

2  April,  1843. 


58l]      POSITIVE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH        uy 

was  begtin  at  a  conference  of  Anti-Corn  Law  deputies  on 
Wednesday,  November  17,  1 841,  at  the  conclusion  of  which 
Sturge,  in  an  especially  convened  meeting,  brought  forward 
his  project.  It  was  determined  that  a  declaration  should 
be  drawn  up  and  distributed  and  a  conference  held  of  its 
supporters.  The  idea  was  enthusiastically  approved  and 
the  conference  convened  on  April  5th  at  Birmingham,  com- 
posed of  middle-class  reformers  and  Moral  Force  Chartists 
to  the  number  of  eighty-seven  from  England  and  four 
from  Ireland,  including  seventeen  ministers.  On  the  execu- 
tive committee  were  Rev.  Noah  Jones,  Rev.  Thomas  Spen- 
cer, Rev.  Henry  Solly  and  Rev.  Edward  Miall.  The  plat- 
form of  this  conference  was  set  forth  in  a  Bill  of  Rights 
which,  in  order  to  hold  the  Chartists,  included  each  of  the 
Six  Points,  later  embraced  in  a  petition  to  the  House  of 
Commons.^  Much  emphasis  was  laid  in  the  conference 
upon  the  conception  of  Christian  duty  in  its  relation  to  the 
suffrage  and  the  conciliatory  spirit  shown  on  both  sides  in- 
sured the  meeting's  success.  Addresses  were  issued  to 
both  the  middle  and  working  classes.  Sharman  Craw- 
ford, a  few  days  later  (April  21,  1842)  on  behalf  of  the 
conference  tested  the  complete  suffrage  strength  in  the 
House.  For  the  motion  to  consider  the  proposition  he  se- 
cured seventy- four  votes. 

The  conference  of  April,  however,  was  only  preliminary 
to  a  bigger  convention  which  met  in  December  of  the  same 
year.  To  this  convention  the  enfranchised  and  unenfranchised 
were  allowed  an  equal  number  of  delegates,  but  the  bicker- 
ings over  representation  augured  ill  for  the  success  of  the 
impending  assembly.  The  spirit  of  the  April  gather- 
ing was  lacking  in  December  and  a  break  came  on  the  very 
first  motion  made,  that  to  make  the  Bill  of  Rights,  accepted 

*  Vide  appendix  i. 


Il8  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [582 

in  April,  the  basis  of  the  discussion  of  the  conference. 
To  many  Chartists  the  Bill  of  Rights  was  unknown,  while 
many  others  who  had  worked  and  suffered  for  the  Charter 
were  unwilling  to  give  up  even  the  name.  Lovett,  to  the 
surprise  of  many,  opposed  the  motion  and  moved  for  a 
consideration  of  the  Charter.  A  long  discussion  followed 
in  which  Miall,  Brewster  and  Spencer  spoke  for  the  Bill 
of  Rights  and  Wade  for  the  Charter.  The  Complete  Suf- 
frage party  refused  a  compromise  and  neither  side  would 
back  down.  A  vote  being  taken,  which  resulted  in  a 
victory  for  the  Charter,  Sturge  announced  that  he  and  his 
followers  felt  bound  to  retire  and  sit  in  a  separate  body. 
The  Chartists  after  a  period  of  confusion  and  strife  broke 
up.  The  Complete  Suffrage  party  likewise  failed  to  make 
much  headway  and  the  failure  of  the  two  classes  to  come 
to  a  mutual  understanding  at  this  conference  put  any  hope 
of  a  near  success  of  the  Charter  out  of  the  question.  The 
Sturgeites  laid  the  blame  of  the  result  upon  the  Chartists, 
maintaining  that  they  had  sacrificed  the  reality  of  a  great 
political  gain  for  the  sentiment  of  a  name.^  The  Chartists 
accused  the  middle  class  of  lack  of  sympathy  and  of  at- 
tempting by  a  strategical  political  move  to  hold  them  at 
arm's-length.^ 

The  Complete  Suffrage  movement,  says  Sturge's  biog- 
rapher, "  breathed  for  the  first  time  since  the  return  of  the 
Stuarts,  a  Christian  principle  into  political  action  ".^  There 
is  a  large  element  of  truth  in  this  statement,  but  the  plea  for 
a  close  connection  between  Christianity  and  politics  which 
was  made  so  much  of  during  the  convening  of  the  confer- 

1  Solly,  These  Eighty  Years,  vol.  i,  p.  408. 

'  Cooper,  Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,  p.  222. 

3  Richard,  Henry,  Memoirs  of  Joseph  Sturge,  p.  329. 


^83]      POSITIVE  CONTRIBUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH        119 

ences,  the  launching  of  the  new  movement/  and  the  April 
gathering,  was  sadly  lacking  in  the  Birmingham  conference 
of  December.  A  trifle  more  of  it  might  have  turned  the 
scale  ^  and  given  a  different  history  to  what  resulted  in  dis- 
mal failure.^ 

In  the  study  of  the  relationship  between  the  Chartist 
movement  and  the  church  two  facts  stand  forth  preemi- 
nently. In  the  first  place,  none  of  the  denominations  seemed 
to  be  able  to  break  away  from  the  prejudices  and  viewpoint 
of  the  class  which  it  represented,  or  to  put  itself  in 
the  attitude  of  the  Chartists  who  thought  that  Christianity 
was  vitally  concerned  in  giving  them  what  they  considered 
their  just  rights  and  a  chance  to  help  themselves.  The 
churches  which  did  not  go  on  record  as  absolutely  opposed 
to  Chartism  looked  upon  it  coldly  and  with  suspicion. 
What  cooperation  or  sympathy  the  movement  received  was 
mainly  from  the  small  group  of  ministers  whose  activities 
have  just  been  recounted,  who  either  believed  in  democracy 
for  its  own  sake  or  else  had  become  convinced,  with  the 
Chartists,  that  it  was  the  duty  of  all  Christians  to  aid  in  the 
political  emancipation  of  their  fellow-men. 

The  second  point  is  no  less  significant  than  the  first. 
Although  these  pages  are  not  intended  as  a  vindication  of 
Chartism  or  any  other  democratic  movement,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  the  "  lawless  "  and  "  dangerous  "  demo- 
crats were  the  leaders  in  their  day  in  the  movement  not 
only  for  a  reform  in  the  government,  but  also  for  one 
in  the  church,  for  universal  and  secular  education,  for 
teetotalism,  pacifism,  the  abolition  of  the  death  penalty, 

1  Supra,  pp.  22,  23. 

'  Cooper,  op.  cit.,  p.  222. 

3  On  the  Complete  Suffrage  Movement,  see  Gammage,  op.  cit.,  pp.  241 
^t  seq.;  Cooper's  Life,  pp.  221  et  seq.;  Solly,  These  Eighty  Years,  vol.  i, 
pp.  376-384,  404-408,  and  the  Eclectic  Review  for  April,  1843. 


I20  CHARTISM  AND  THE  CHURCHES  [584 

direct  taxation  and  many  other  principles  which  to-day 
are  either  accepted  without  question  or  are  still  goals 
of  endeavors.  Even  the  Charter  itself  has  largely  been 
incorporated  into  the  law  of  England.  Organized  Chris- 
tianity deliberately  refused  the  leadership  in  political  and 
social  reformation,  and  the  burden  was  taken  up  by  the 
proletariat.  The  necessity  thrown  upon  the  workingmen 
of  leading  the  fight  for  reform  in  all  departments  gave  to 
Chartism  an  intellectual  and  ethical  stimulus  which  made  it 
probably  the  most  important  social  movement  in  nineteenth- 
century  England. 


APPENDIX  I 

Petition  of  the  Complete  Suffrage  Conference  of 
April,  1842,  to  the  House  of  Commons 

Sheweth, 

That  in  the  opinion  of  your  petitioners,  every  member  of 
society  has  an  equal  right  with  every  other  member  to  have 
a  voice  in  making  the  laws  which  he  is  called  upon  to  obey. 

That  this  just  principle  has  already  been  recognized  in  the 
British  Constitution,  for  by  various  ancient  statutes  it  is  pro- 
vided, "  that  no  person  be  compelled  to  pay  any  tax  or  make 
any  loan  to  the  king  against  his  will,"  and  by  a  statute  of  King 
Edward  III,  it  is  declared,  that  "  such  laws  are  against  reason 
and  the  franchise  of  the  land,"  which  enactments  are  confirmed 
and  expounded  by  the  celebrated  petition  of  right,  which  pro- 
vides that  "  no  man  be  compelled  to  make  or  yield  any  gift  or 
tax,  without  common  consent,  by  act  of  parliament." 

That  the  principle  is  further  sanctioned  by  the  dictates  of 
that  holy  religion,  which  teaches  men  to  do  to  others,  as  they 
would  that  others  should  do  unto  them. 

That  in  carrying  out  this  principle,  only  such  limitations 
or  restrictions  should  be  allowed  as  naturally  arise  out  of  the 
right  itself,  as  are  necessary  to  its  practical  exercise, — and  as 
are  equally  applicable  to  all  classes  of  the  community. 

That,  therefore  your  petitioners,  after  due  deliberation, 
have  arrived  at  the  conviction,  that  the  elective  franchise  ought 
to  be  extended  to  every  man  of  twenty-one  years  of  age,  who 
is  not  deprived  of  his  rights  of  citizenship,  in  consequence  of 
the  verdict  of  a  jury  of  his  countrymen. 

That  a  false  principle  of  representation  namely,   that  of 

property  and  not  persons — having  been  acted  on  for  a  great 

length  of  time  in  this  country,  many  abuses  have  thereby  arisen 

and  been  perpetuated ;  and  that  as  the  removal  of  these  abuses 

585]  121 


122  APPENDIX  I  [586 

is  necessary  in  order  to  render  complete  suffrage,  as  defined 
in  the  preceding  propositions,  practically  beneficial,  your  peti- 
tioners are  of  the  opinion  that  the  details  embodied  in  the 
following  propositions  are  essential  for  rendering  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  people  on  the  fundamental  principle  already 
declared,  full,  fair,  and  free. 

That  every  man  ought  to  be  able  and  willing  to  give  an 
open  and  conscientious  vote — yet  under  the  present  circum- 
stances of  the  country,  and  with  the  general  prevalence  of 
bribery  and  intimidation,  that  the  system  of  voting  by  ballot 
should  be  adopted,  in  order  effectually  to  secure  the  free  exer- 
cise of  the  suffrage,  which  free  exercise  is  sanctioned  by  acts 
of  parliament  declaring  that  "  elections  ought  to  be  free." 

That  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  fair  and  equal  representa- 
tion of  the  people,  it  is  necessary  that  the  whole  country  be 
divided  into  districts  each  containing,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  an 
equal  number  of  electors. 

That  all  legal  election  expenses,  and  a  reasonable  remuner- 
ation to  Members  of  Parliament  for  their  services,  ought  to  be 
borne  at  the  public  expense. 

That  it  is  of  great  importance  to  secure  and  maintain  the 
responsibility  of  members  to  their  constituents,  and  your  peti- 
tioners are  of  the  opinion  that  annual  parliaments  are  a  proper 
means  for  securing  this  object. 

May  it  therefore  please  the  Commons  to  resolve  itself  into 
a  committee  of  the  whole  house,  to  take  these  premises  into 
its  deliberate  consideration,  or  adopt  such  other  measures  as 
shall  secure  a  full,  fair,  and  free  representation  of  the  people, 
according  to  the  fundamental  principles  hereinbefore  stated. 

Your  petitioners,  in  conclusion,  would  express  their  heart- 
felt prayer,  that  Almighty  God  may  direct  your  councils,  for 
the  happiness  of  the  nation,  the  welfare  of  mankind  in  general, 
and  for  His  own  glory. 

From  the  Minutes  of  the  Proceedings  at  the  Conference  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  Middle  and  Working  Classes  of  Great  Britain,  Held 
First  at  the  Waterloo  Rooms,  and  Afterwards  at  the  Town  Hall,  Bir- 
mingham, pp.  19,  20,  21. 


APPENDIX  II 
Chartist  Gospel — ^A  New  Revelation 

THE  BOOK  OF  THE  CHRONICLES  OF  THE  DEMOCRATS 

Chapter  I 

1.  Victoria  being  Queen  of  the  Isles  and  of  extensive  coun- 
tries abroad,  Sir  Robert  Peel  being  Prime  Minister,  Sir  James 
Graham  being  Secretary  for  the  Home  Department,  and  the 
Earl  de  Grey  being  Governor  of  the  Land  of  Erin. 

2.  In  those  days  came  Feargus  O'Connor,  preaching  to  the 
whole  people  of  the  United  Queendom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland. 

3.  Saying,  the  day  of  justice  draweth  nigh,  for  the  masses 
are  awakening  from  their  sleep. 

4.  But  when  he  saw  the  Tories,  and  the  Whigs,  and  the 
Corn-Law  Repealers,  come  to  hear,  he  said  unto  them,  O  gener- 
ation of  vipers,  what  hath  induced  you  to  fleece  and  rob  the 
people. 

5.  And  think  not  to  say  unto  yourselves  we  are  just  before 
God ;  Amen,  I  say  unto  you,  Repent  lest  you  may  be  punished 
for  your  evil  deeds. 

6.  For  reason  is  gone  abroad  and  will  soon  penetrate  the 
minds  of  all  men,  and  will  force  them  to  become  lovers  of 
liberty, 

7.  And  thus  did  Feargus  O'Connor  harass  the  tyrants,  and 
despots  and  oppressors  of  every  kind,  even  from  the  days  of 
William  the  Foolish  and  the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  Victoria. 

8.  And  the  lawyers,  and  chief  priests,  and  factory  masters 
conspired  together  to  put  him  to  death,  but  they  could  not  for 
fear  of  the  people. 

587]  123 


124  APPENDIX  II  [588 

9.  But  they  put  him  into  prison  for  the  long  space  of  six- 
teen months ;  even  in  York  castle  did  they  confine  him : 

10.  So  that  his  fame  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  world 
where  democracy  is  known;  from  the  banks  of  the  Thames 
to  the  banks  of  the  sire  of  rivers. 

11.  In  the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  Victoria,  the  first 
and  last,  he  went  to  the  city  of  long  chimneys  and  cotton 
factories  to  instruct  the  people,  and  thousands  of  thousands 
of  people  came  from  the  surrounding  towns  to  hear  him. 

12.  And  he  opened  his  mouth  and  taught  them  saying; 

13.  Ye  Chartists  are  the  salt  of  the  earth:  Ye  are  the  light 
of  the  world :  let  your  light  so  shine  before  men  that  they  may 
see  the  truths  of  the  Charter,  and  seeing  believe. 

14.  Think  not  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  Constitution;  no, 
but  to  restore  it :  nor  to  injure  life ;  no,  but  to  preserve  it.  I 
api  come  to  assist  the  needy,  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  to  confirm 
the  timid,  to  raise  you  from  slavery,  and  to  establish  justice. 

15.  No  man  can  serve  two  masters;  for  either  he  will  hate 
the  one  and  love  the  other,  or  he  will  hold  to  the  one  and 
despise  the  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  Whiggism  and  Toryism 
with  Chartism. 

16.  Judge  not  rashly  or  unjustly,  lest  that  you  yourselves 
might  be  so  judged;  for  most  assuredly  will  the  people  hold 
those  that  dispense  justice  responsible  for  their  acts. 

17.  Beware  of  false  teachers  and  pretended  friends  who 
come  to  you  in  sheep's  clothing,  but  who  inwardly  are  ravenous 
wolves. 

18.  Therefore,  whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine, 
and  doeth  them,  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise  man  who  built 
his  home  upon  a  rock  and  the  storms  arose  and  prevailed  not 
against  it.        ^ 

19.  And  it  came  to  pass  as  Feargus  O'Connor  sojourned  to 
an  inn  for  refreshment,  he  saw  Jonathan  Bairstow;  and  he 
said  unto  him.  Follow  thou  me.  And  when  he  sat  down  to 
eat  with  working  men,  and  when  the  Whigs  and  Tories  saw 
it,  they  marvelled  amongst  themselves  that  he  should  do  this. 


589]  APPENDIX  II  125 

20.  And  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  great  apostles  of  Chart- 
ism were  F.  O'Connor,  the  son  of  Roger  and  nephew  of 
Arthur,  and  James  Leach,  and  Peter  Murray  McDouall,  and 
John  Campbell  and  J.  A.  R.  Bairstow,  and  R.  K.  Philp,  and 
William  Hill  and  James  Scholefield,  and  Morgan  Williams, 
and  George  Julian  Harney,  and  George  White,  and  Thomas 
Cooper,  and  Christopher  Doyle,  and  Bernard  McCartney,  and 
Thomas  Clarke,  and  James  McArthur,  and  John  Duncan,  and 
Robert  Lowrie,  and  William  Beesley,  and  Ruffy  Ridley,  and 
Thomas  Wheeler.  And  there  were  hundreds  of  disciples  of 
this  great  party  in  all  parts  of  the  Western  Isles. 

The  Penny  Democrat  and  Political  Illuminator,  pp.  17,  18  (no  date). 


APPENDIX  III 


That  the  Church  of  England  and  Chartism  totally  oppose 
each  other,  produce  wholly  different  effects,  and  lead  to  widely 
and  utterly  different  destinations,  will  appear  if  we  just  con- 
sider to  what  they  each  lead. 


Chartism 
Leads    to    unholy    desires, 
wicked   counsels   and   unjust 
works. 


The  Church  of  England 
Leads  us  to  pray  to  that 
God  from  whom  "All  holy  de- 
sires, all  good  counsel  and  all 
just  works  proceed." 


— to    perils,    dangers,    evil 
and  mischief. 


— "  us  to  pray  to  be  kept 
from  all  perils  and  dangers, 
from  all  evil  and  mischief." 


— "  to   battle,   murder   and 
sudden  death." 


— us  to  pray  and  be  deliv- 
ered "  from  battle,  and  mur- 
der and  sudden  death." 


— us  to  curse  and  oppose 
the  magistrates  in  the  execu- 
tion of  their  duties,  in  punish- 
ing wickedness  and  vice. 


— us  to  beseech  God,  "  to 
bless  and  keep  the  magistrates, 
giving  them  grace  to  execute 
justice  and  maintain  truth." 


— all  nations  to  war,  hatred 
and  discord. 


— us  to  ask  God  "  to  give 
to  all  nations,  unity,  peace, 
and  concord." 


— men  out  of  the  way  of 
truth,  into  error  and  deception. 


126 


— us  to  pray  that  God 
"  may  bring  into  the  way  of 
truth,  all  such  as  have  erred 
and  are  deceived." 

[590 


591] 


APPENDIX  III 


Chartism 
— to  danger,  necessity,  and 
tribulation;  and  leaves  those 
that  are  led  by  it  helpless  and 
comfortless. 


127 

The  Church  of  England 
— us  to  beseech  God  that 
He  "  may  be  pleased  to  re- 
cover, help,  and  comfort,  all 
that  are  in  danger,  necessity 
and  tribulation." 


— to  the  murder  of  fathers 
and  husbands;  and  leaves  the 
fatherless  children  and  wid- 
ows desolate  and  oppressed. 


— us  to  ask  God  "  that  it 
may  please  Him  to  defend 
and  provide  for  the  fatherless 
children  and  widows,  and  all 
that  are  desolate  and  op- 
pressed." 


— to  the  disturbance  of  pub- 
lic worship,  to  the  immediate 
dispersion  of  the  congregation 
when  in  the  middle  of  their 
devotions,  at  the  sight  of  the 
pike,  pistol,  scythe,  gun,  etc. 


— us  to  pray  thus,  "  Grant 
O  Lord  we  beseech  Thee,  that 
the  course  of  this  world  may 
be  so  peaceably  ordered  by 
thy  governance,  that  thy 
Church  may  joyfully  serve 
thee  in  all  godly  quietness." 


— to  scepticism,  infidelity, 
and  disbelief  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 


— us  to  pray  God  "  to  grant 
us  grace  to  hear,  read,  mark, 
learn,  and  inwardly  digest 
them." 


— to  evils  which  we,  on  ac- 
count of  our  sins  have  right- 
eously deserved. 


— us  to  beseech  God  "'  gra- 
ciously to  hear  us,  that  those 
evils,  which  the  craft  and  sub- 
tilty  of  the  devil  or  man  work- 
eth  against  us,  be  brought  to 
naught." 


128 


APPENDIX  III 


[592 


Chartism 
— professors  of  religion  to 
bring  reproach  upon  the  Gos- 
pel, by  their  wicked  and  evil 
deeds. 


The  Church  of  England 
— us  to  ask  Almighty  God, 
to  "  grant  unto  all  them  that 
are  admitted  into  the  fellow- 
ship of  Christ's  religion,  that 
they  may  eschew  those  things 
that  are  contrary  to  their  pro- 
fession and  follow  all  such 
things  as  are  agreeable  to  the 
same." 


— to  anarchy;  to  disobey 
and  rebel  against  the  powers 
that  be ;  and  to  the  subversion 
of  all  good  government. 


— ^us  and  all  subjects  duly 
to  consider  whose  authority 
the  Queen  hath,  that  we  may 
"  faithfully  serve,  honor,  and 
humbly  obey  her." 


— to  poverty,  misery,  and 
transportation ;  the  gallows, 
death  and  hell. 


— to  wealth,  peace,  free- 
dom, pardon;  and  beseeches 
the  Lord  in  his  boundless 
mercy  and  love  to  "  deliver 
us  from  wrath  and  from  ever- 
lasting damnation." 


Jenkin's  Chartism  Unmasked,  19th  ed.,  pp.  25-27   (Merthyr  Tydvil, 
1840). 


APPENDIX  IV 
A  Prayer 

RECENTLY  DELIVERED  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  A  CHARTIST  CHURCH 

IN  LONDON 

O  Lord,  the  fountain  of  all  goodness,  by  whom  our  valleys 
at  this  time  are  covered  with  corn,  and  our  hills  teeming  with 
innumerable  flocks,  the  Maker  of  one  blood  of  all  nations  that 
dwell  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  who  hath  declared  Thy- 
self no  respecter  of  persons  by  levelling  crowned  heads  with 
beggars  in  one  mighty  sepulchre,  and  mingling  the  dust  of 
proud  and  haughty  tyrants  with  that  of  the  meanest  slave. 
Ere  our  lips  give  utterance,  thou  art  acquainted  with  our 
desires  and  the  interests  of  our  hearts,  the  cruel  and  wicked 
judgments  of  which  the  tribunals  of  the  land  resound,  are  all 
naked  before  Thee,  and  no  secret  can  be  hid.  Hear  the  prayer 
of  Thy  persecuted  servant,  and  the  silent  breathings  of  the 
oppressed  that  surround  him,  on  behalf  of  those  of  our  brethren 
by  whom  Thy  violated  law  hath  spoken  out  and  for  which 
they  are  now  breathing  the  polluted  air  of  the  dungeon,  re- 
duced to  skeletons,  with  the  months  of  their  harsh  and  rigor- 
ous endurance.  Be  Thou  with  them,  support  them,  preserve 
them,  and  teach  them,  that  they  may  come  forth  from  the 
prison  cell,  as  giants  refreshed  with  new  wine,  mighty  in  power 
to  the  pulling  down  of  the  strongholds  of  corruption,  and  in 
boldness  and  self  possession  work  out  the  political  redemption 
of  the  British  People.  O  Lord,  hasten  the  long  wished  for 
period,  when  such  men  as  honest  O'Connor,  Vincent,  Lovett, 
Collins,  and  many  others,  shall  shake  the  Senate  House  by 
their  eloquence,  and  direct  the  realm  by  their  wisdom,  that 
iniquity  may  be  compelled  to  hide  her  head,  and  the  iron  rod  of 
593]  129 


130  APPENDIX  IV  [594 

despotism  be  for  ever  broken;  when  the  laws  for  the  separa- 
tion of  husband  and  wife  shall  be  no  more;  when  those  ties 
that  have  been  so  rudely  broken,  shall  again  be  united;  when 
bastiles,  the  monuments  of  wicked  legislation,  shall  tumble  to 
the  ground,  and  peace  be  proclaimed  upon  earth,  and  good  will 
amongst  men.  Hear  us,  O  Lord,  on  behalf  of  a  wicked  and 
persecuting  church,  which  exists  by  violence  and  plundering 
of  goods,  instead  of  the  freewill  offerings  of  the  heart ;  con- 
vert our  bishops  and  clergy  to  Christianity,  and  release  the 
martyr  Thorogood  from  gaol.  May  tithe-barns  cease  to  be 
their  temples  and  money  their  God.  May  they  abandon  all 
choice  schemes  which  tend  to  the  destruction  of  liberty  and 
genuine  knowledge.  While  thus  assembled  to  offer  prayers 
to  Thee,  we  supplicate  for  her  who  sits  upon  a  human  bone- 
and-blood  built  throne,  swaying  the  sceptre  of  this  mighty  em- 
pire ;  may  she  henceforth  counsel  her  wicked  councilors,  and 
teach  her  foolish  senators  wisdom ;  that  her  people's  requests 
may  be  granted,  and  herself  in  reality  be  Queen  Victoria  by  the 
grace  of  God,  instead  of  queen  of  slaves.  Hear  us  on  behalf 
of  the  countless  thousands  of  India,  whom  designing  men  are 
seeking  to  destroy  by  the  game  of  horror  and  war ;  may  we,  as 
a  nation  and  a  people,  refuse  to  take  part  in  the  shedding  of 
human  blood,  and  show  the  world,  by  our  lives  and  conduct, 
we  are  determined  to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  We  pray 
for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  for  all  spies,  for  all  false 
witnesses,  for  all  perjured  jurors,  for  all  unjust  judges,  and 
for  all  the  victims  made  now  at  home  and  abroad ;  aid  and 
assist  us  in  the  mighty  work  we  have  to  perform ;  prepare  us 
to  brave  persecution,  and  enable  us  to  surmount  every  diffi- 
culty and  may  we  never  relax  our  exertions  until  our  birth- 
right, the  Charter,  do  come.  That  on  earth,  as  in  heaven,  Thy 
will  may  be  done.  To  this  may  all  our  hearts  respond,  and 
every  tongue  exclaim  Amen. 

The  Chartist  Circular,  p.  211  (Sept.  19,  1840). 


APPENDIX  V 

Rules  and  Objects  of  the  East  London  Chartist 
Temperance  Association 

(Recommended  by  the  English  Chartist  Circular,  p.  19,  vol. 
i,  to  its  constituents  for  the  formation  of  similar  associations.) 

1.  That  this  association  be  denominated  the  Chartist  Temper- 
ance Association. 

2.  That  the  affairs  of  this  Association  shall  be  managed  by  a 
Committee  of  ten,  chosen  from  the  first  members  who  join  it. 

3.  That  the  Members  and  Committee  shall  be  elected  every 
three  months.     Seven  to  be  a  quorum. 

4.  That  the  Committee  shall  meet  once  a  week;  or  oftener, 
if  necessary. 

5.  That  there  be  a  general  meeting  of  the  Association  once 
every  month  for  the  admission  of  Members — to  receive  reports 
and  for  the  transaction  of  general  business. 

6.  That  no  rule  or  article  shall  be  altered  without  the  con- 
sent of  a  majority  of  the  Members,  all  of  whom  shall  receive 
a  week's  notice  of  the  same. 

7.  That  each  Member  be  recommended  to  subscribe  One 
Penny  per  week  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  Association. 

8.  That  it  be  the  duty  of  this  Association  to  advance  the 
moral  and  intellectual  welfare  of  the  Members;  by  lectures, 
discussions,  or  any  other  means. 

9.  That  the  members  of  the  Association  are  earnestly  re- 
commended to  take  an  interest  in  the  welfare  of  each  other  by 
trading  with,  and  endeavoring  to  procure  employment  for,  any 
of  the  Members  who  are  in  want  of  the  same;  and  in  order 
to  facilitate  this  object  a  record  of  each  member's  trade  or 
occupation  be  kept  by  the  Secretary,  and  read  over  at  the 
general  monthly  meetings  of  the  Association. 

595]  131 


132  APPENDIX  V  [596 

10.  That  as  early  as  the  Funds  will  allow,  a  convenient  place 
shall  be  hired  for  the  use  of  the  Association :  and  a  library  of 
useful  books  be  established  in  order  that  the  Members  may 
spend  their  leisure  hours  profitably,  and  set  a  good  example. 

11.  That  the  Members  of  this  Association  adopt  as  their 
motto  the  following  beautiful  rule  of  justice  —  "Do  unto 
others  as  ye  would  they  should  do  unto  you." 

12.  In  order  that  harmony  of  sentiment  and  unanimity  of 
action  may  characterize  the  Association,  all  discussion  on 
questions  of  Theology  is  expressly  forbidden. 

13.  That  persons  desirous  of  becoming  Members  of  this 
Association  must  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  drinks  for  one 
week  previous  to  their  admission,  in  order  to  try  the  principle 
and  prevent  a  relapse. 

14.  That  to  prevent  embarrassment  in  the  pecuniary  affairs 
of  the  Association,  the  Committee  will  not  allow  the  debts  of 
the  Association  to  exceed  at  any  time  the  sum  of  ten  shillings, 
except  by  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the  Members,  given 
at  any  public  meeting. 

15.  That  the  following  be  the  pledge  and  qualification  of 
membership. 

I  voluntarily  consent  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating 
liquors,  except  prescribed  by  a  medical  person;  and,  as 
temperance  applies  to  all  things,  I  renounce  the  use  of 
tobacco  as  a  common  habit,  injurious  alike  to  health  and 
good  morals,  and  pledge  myself  not  to  use  it,  except  as  a 
medicine;  and  do  further  declare  that  I  will  use  all  moral 
and  lawful  means  to  cause  the  People's  Charter  to  become 
the  law  of  the  land. 


APPENDIX  VI 

Charles  Kingsley's  Appeal  to  the  Chartists,  April 
12,  1848 

workmen  of  ENGLAND 

You  say  that  you  are  wronged.  Many  of  you  are 
wronged;  and  many  besides  yourselves  know  it.  Almost  all 
men  who  have  heads  and  hearts  know  it — above  all,  the  work- 
ing clergy  know  it.  They  go  into  your  houses,  they  see  the 
shameful  filth  and  darkness  in  which  you  are  forced  to  live 
crowded  together;  they  see  your  children  growing  up  in 
ignorance  and  temptation,  for  want  of  fit  education;  they  see 
intelligent  and  well-read  men  among  you,  shut  out  from  a 
Freeman's  just  right  of  voting;  and  they  see  too  the  noble 
patience  and  self-control  with  which  you  have  as  yet  borne 
these  evils.     They  see  it,  and  God  sees  it. 

Workmen  of  England!  You  have  more  friends  than  you 
think  for.  Friends  who  expect  nothing  from  you,  but  who 
love  you,  because  you  are  their  brothers,  and  who  fear  God, 
and  therefore  dare  not  neglect  you,  His  children ;  men  who  are 
drudging  and  sacrificing  themselves  to  get  you  your  rights; 
men  who  know  what  your  rights  are,  better  than  you  know 
yourselves,  who  are  trying  to  get  for  you  something  nobler 
than  charters  and  dozens  of  Acts  of  Parliament — more  useful 
than  this  "  fifty  thousandth  share  in  a  Talker  in  the  National 
Palaver  at  Westminster  "  can  give  you.  You  may  disbelieve 
them,  insult  them-r-you  cannot  stop  their  working  for  you, 
beseeching  you  as  you  love  yourselves,  to  turn  back  from  the 
precipice  of  riot,  which  ends  in  the  gulf  of  universal  distrust, 
stagnation,  starvation. 

You  think  the  Charter  would  make  you  free — would  to 
597]  133 


134  APPENDIX  VI  [598 

God  it  would!  The  Charter  is  not  bad;  if  the  men  who  use 
it  are  not  bad!  But  will  the  Charter  make  you  free?  Will  it 
free  you  from  slavery  to  ten-pound  bribes?  Slavery  to  beer 
and  gin?  Slavery  to  every  spouter  who  flatters  your  self- 
conceit,  and  stirs  up  bitterness  and  headlong  rage  in  you? 
That,  I  guess,  is  real  slavery;  to  be  a  slave  to  one's  own 
stomach,  one's  own  pocket,  one's  own  temper.  Will  the 
Charter  cure  that?  Friends,  you  want  more  than  Acts  of 
Parliament  can  give. 

Englishmen!  Saxons!  Workers  of  the  great,  cool-headed, 
strong-handed  nation  of  England,  the  workshop  of  the 
world,  the  leader  of  freedom  for  seven  hundred  years,  men 
say  you  have  common  sense !  then  do  not  humbug  yourselves 
into  meaning  "license,"  when  you  cry  for  "liberty" ;  who  would 
dare  refuse  you  freedom?  for  the  Almighty  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ,  the  poor  Man,  who  died  for  poor  men,  will  bring  it 
about  for  you,  though  all  the  Mammonites  of  the  earth  were 
against  you.  A  nobler  day  is  dawning  for  England,  a  day  of 
freedom,  science,  industry! 

But  there  will  be  no  true  freedom  without  virtue,  no 
true  science  without  religion,  no  true  industry  without  the 
fear  of  God,  and  love  to  your  fellow-citizens. 

Workers  of  England,  be  wise,  and  then  you  must  be  free, 
for  you  will  be  fit  to  be  free. 

A  Working  Parson. 

Charles  Kingsley,  His  Letters  and  Memories  of  His  Life,  edited  by 
his  wife,  loth  ed.  (London,  1878),  vol.  i,  pp.  156-157. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


LIBRARIES 


Most  of  the  periodicals  and  pamphlets  listed  below  were  consulted 
in  the  private  library  of  Professor  E.  iR.  A.  .Seligman.  There  are,  how- 
ever, quite  a  few  Chartist  pamphlets  on  the  shelves  of  the  New  York 
PubHc  Library,  while  several  of  the  important  periodicals  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Columbia  Library.  The  Yale  Library  also  contains  a  few 
of  the  sources.  The  hbrary  of  the  Drew  Theological  Seminary  is  par- 
ticularly rich  in  Methodist  literature,  containing,  as  it  does,  the  Osborn 
and  Tyerman  collections  of  early  pamphlets.  The  Union  Theological 
Seminary  library  contains  a  collection  of  the  works  of  Joseph  Barker, 
as  well  as  a  large  number  of  nineteenth  century  Catholic  pamphlets. 

Reference  Works 

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Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Ninth  Edition,  1887.    Article  on  Methodism. 

Also  Eleventh  Edition  (N.  Y.,  191 1). 
New  International  Encyclopedia,  Second  Edition,  1914-1916. 
Dictionary  of  National  Biography.     Edited  by  Leslie  Stephens,  1885-1912. 

Contemporary  Conditions  in  iEnct^nd 

Engels,  Frederick,  The  Condition  of  the  Working  Clciss  in  England  in 

1844  (London,  ed.  1892). 
,  Socialism,  Utopian  and  ScientiHc.     Translated  by  E.  Aveling 

(London,  1892). 
Gibbins,  H.  de  B.,  Industry  in  England,  7th  ed  (New  York,  1912). 
Knight,  (Charles,  A  Popular  History  of  England  (London,  1863-1868). 
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McCarthy,  Justin,  A  History  of  Our  Own  Times  from  the  Accession 

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1880).    Three  additional  vols,  bring  this  down  to  1901   (London, 

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Marriott,  J.  A.  R.,  England  Since  Waterloo  (N.  Y.  and  London,  1913). 
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(London,  1877). 

599]  135 


136  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [600 

Molesworth,  William,  The  History  of  England  (London,  1874) . 
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twelve  volumes.    Vol.  12,  by  S.  Low  and  L.  iC.  Sanders,  covers  the 

period  from  1837-1901. 
Prentice,  Archibald,  History  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League,  2  vols. 

(London,  1853), 
Rose,  J.  Holland,  The  Rise  and  Growth  of  Democracy  in  Great  Britain 

(London,  1897). 
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1901). 
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Science  Quarterly,  vol.  i,  pp.  208-249. 
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vols,  in  12  (London,  1909). 
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Brewster,  Patrick,  The  Seven  Chartist  and  Military  Discourses  Libeled 
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Parish  (Paisley,  1843). 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  Chartism  (1839). 

Dierlamm,  Gotthilf,  Die  Flugschriftenliteratur  der  Chartistenbewegung 
und  ihr  Wider  hall  in  der  offentlichen  Meinung  (Leipzig,  1909). 

Dolleans,  Edouard,  Le  Chartisme,  2  vols.  (Paris,  1912). 

Gammage,  R.  G.,  History  of  the  Chartist  Movement,  1837-1854  (Lon- 
don, new  ed.,  1894). 

Jones,  E.  D.,  Chartism — A  Chapter  in  English  Industrial  History. 
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Letters,  vol.  xii,  part  ii  (Madison,  1900). 

Schliiter,  Hermann,  Die  Chartisten-bewegung ;  ein  Beitrag  su  sozial-poli- 
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Tildsley,  John  L.,  Die  Entstehung  und  die  okonomischen  Grundsdtze 
der  Chartistenbewegung  (Jena,  1898). 

2.  Novels 
Disraeli,  Benjamin,  Coningsby,  or  The  New  Generation  (London,  1844, 
new  edit  on,  1871). 

,  Sybil,  or  The  Two  Nations  (London,  1845,  new  edition,  1871). 

Gaskell,  EHzrJjeth  G.,  Mary  Barton  (1848). 


6oi]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  1 37 

Kingsley,  Charles,  Alton  Locke  (New  York  edition,  1850). 

,  Yeast  (London,  1851). 

Solly,  Henry,  James  Woodford,  Carpenter  and  Chartist,  2  vols.  (Lon- 
don, 1881). 

3,  Biographies 

Bamford,  Samuel,  Passages  in  the  Life  of  a  Radical,  2  vols.  (London, 

1844). 
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Richard,  Henry,  Memoirs  of  Joseph  Sturge  (London,  1864). 

Solly,  Rev.  Henry,  These  Eighty  Years,  or  The  Story  of  an  Unfinished 
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4.  Periodicals 

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The  Beacon,  A    Weekly  Journal  of  Free  Inquiry.     Pub.  by  Henry 

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Bronterr^s  National  Reformer  in  Government,  Law,  Property,  Religion 

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,  The  Prayer  Book  Opposed  to  the  Corn  Laws  (1841). 

,  Want  of  Fidelity  of  Ministers  of  Religion  Respecting  the  New 

Poor  Law,  four  parts  (1841). 

,  The  Reformed  Prayer  Book  of  1842  (1842). 

,  The  Second  Reformation  ( 1842) . 

The  People's  Rights  and  How  to  Get  Them  (1843). 


State  of  the  Question  between  the  People,  the  Middle  Classes  and  the 
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Stephens,  J.  R.,  A  Sermon  Delivered  at  Hyde,  in  Lancashire,  on  Sun- 
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,  Sermon  Preached  on  Shepherd  and  Shepherdess  Fields  (Lon- 
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,  Sermon  on  Primrose  Hill  (1839). 

,  Sermon  on  Kennington  Common  (1839). 

,  A  Sermon  Preached  in  his  Chapel  at  Charlestown  on  Sunday, 

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7  pp.  (Manchester,  i 


609]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  1 45 

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Watkins,  John,  The  Five  Cardinal  Points  of  the  People's  Charter  Sep- 
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,  Impeachment  of  Feargus  O'Connor  (London,  1843). 

,  Lovettism  vs.  Chartism.    A  Chartist  Sermon. 

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White,  John,  England  and  Her  Interests;  the  "Times"  and  the  Gov- 
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Whittaker,  J.  W.,  A  Sermon  Preached  at  the  Parish  Church,  Blackburn, 
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Chartism  in  the  Reviews 

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Ixiii,  p.  660  (May,  1848). 
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THE  CHURCHES  •  ' ' 

The  Chukch  of  England  and  the  Catholic  Church 
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6li]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  147 

Newman,  J,  H.,  Apologia  Pro  Vita  Sua  (London,  1864;  Everyman's 

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3.    Church  of  England  Periodicals 
British  Critic. 
The  English  Review. 

The  Christian  Guardian  and  Church  of  England  Magazine. 
The  Christian  Remembrancer:  A  Monthly  Magazine  and  Review. 
The  Christian  Observer. 
The  Church  of  England  Magazine. 
Quarterly  Review. 


Tracts  for  the  Times.    Especially  No.  86 

The  Methodist  Chx^ich 
I.  History 

A  New  History  of  Methodism.  Edited  by  W.  J.  Townshend,  'H.  B. 
Workman  and  George  Ayres.    2  vols.  (London,  1909). 

The  Jubilee  of  the  Methodist  New  Connexion.  By  Thomas  Allen,  Wil- 
liam Cooke,  Samuel  Hulme  and  Philip  James  Wright  (London, 
1848). 

Baxter,  M.,  Memorials  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Churches,  With 
Recollections  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Eckett  and  Some  of  His  Contem- 
poraries (1865). 

Gregory,  Benjamin,  Sidelights  on  the  Conflicts  of  Methodism  during 
the  Second  Quarter  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  1827-18 52  (London, 
1898). 


148  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [612 

Hurst,  J.  F,,  History  of  Methodism.  7  vols.  (N.  Y.,  1902-04).  Vol- 
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Methodism  as  It  Is,  With  Some  of  its  Antecedents,  its  Branches  and 
Disruptions;  Including  a  Diary  of  the  Campaign  of  1849,  Pro- 
tracted during  a  Period  of  Seven  Years;  With  Special  Reference 
to  the  Character,  Power,  Policy  and  Administration  of  the  "Mas- 
ter Mind"  of  John  Wesley's  Legislative  Succession.  Published 
anonymously  but  written  by  James  Everett.  2  vols.  (London,  1863- 
1865). 

North,  E.  M.,  Early  Methodist  Philanthropy  (N.  Y.,  1914). 

Petty,  John,  The  History  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion.  New 
ed.  (London,  1880). 

Smith,  George,  History  of  Wesleyan  Methodism.    3  vols.  (London,  1861). 

Stevens,  Abel,  History  of  Methodism.    3  vols.  (1858-1861). 

2.  Polity 

Gregory,  Benj.,  A  Handbook  of  Scriptural  Church  Principles  and  Wes- 
leyan Methodist  Polity  and  History  (London,  1888). 

Kendall,  H.  B.,  Handbook  of  Primitive  Methodist  Church  Principles, 
History  and  Polity  (London,  1905). 

Pierce,  William,  The  Ecclesiastical  Principles  and  Polity  of  the  Wes- 
leyan Methodists.    3d  ed.  (London,  1873). 

Rigg,  J.  H.,  The  Connexional  Economy  of  Wesleyan  Methodism  in  its 
Ecclesiastical  and  Spiritual  Aspects  (London,  1879). 

Skewes,  J.  H.,  A  Complete  and  Popular  Digest  of  the  Polity  of  Metho- 
dism (London,  1869). 

Wansborough,  Charles  E.,  Handbook  and  Index  to  the  Minutes  of  the 
Conference:  Showing  the  Growth  and  Development  of  the  Wes- 
leyan Methodist  Constitution  from  the  First  Conference,  1744,  to 
1890  (London,  1890). 

Watson,  Richard,  An  Affectionate  Address. 

Williams,  H.  W.,  The  Constitution  and  Polity  of  Wesleyan  Methodism 
(London,  1880). 

3.  Biography 

Avery,  John  G.,  Memorials  of  the  Rev.  John  Henley  (London,  1844). 
Beaumont,  Joseph,   The  Life  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Beaumont,  M.  D. 

(London,  1856). 
Beech,  John  H.,  The  Good  Soldier  (London,  1856). 
Bunting,  T.  P.,  The  Life  of  Jabez  Bunting,  D.  D.    2  vols.  (London, 

1859,  1887). 
Chew,  Richard,  James  Everett:  A  Biography  (London,  1875). 
Dixon,  R.  W.,  Life  of  James  Dixon,  D.  D.  (London,  1874) . 
Davison,  John,  Life  of  the  Venerable  William  Clowes  (London,  1854). 


613]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  149 

Faulkner,  J.  Alfred,  The  Socialism  of  John  Wesley,  in  "Social  Tracts 
for  the  Times."    24  pp.  (London,  no  date). 

Memoirs  of  Rev.  Joseph  Entwisle  by  His  Son  (London,  1854). 

Everett,  James,  Memoirs  of  the  Life,  Character  and  Ministry  of  Wil- 
liam Dawson  (Philadelphia,  1843). 

,  Wesleyan  Takings,  Centenary  Sketches  of  Ministerial  Char- 
acter.   Published  anonymously  (1841). 

Jackson,  Thomas,  Recollections  of  My  Own  Life  and  Times  (London, 

1873). 
Jobson,  Frederick  J.,  A  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  Rev.  Jabez  Bunting, 

D.  D.  (London,  1858). 
,  The  Beloved  Disciple:  A  Sermon  Preached  in  Wesley  Chapel, 

Lincoln,  Jan.  26,  1868,  on  the  Death  of  Rev.  John  Hannah,  D.  D., 

With  a  Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Deceased  (London,  1868). 
Macdonald,  Frederic  W.,  The  Life  of  William  Morley  Punshon.    3d  ed. 

(London,  1888). 
MCullagh,  T.  M.,  The  Earnest  Life:  Memorials  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 

Keysell  (London,  1867). 
M'Owan,  John,  A  Man  of  God;  or.  Providence  and  Grace  ExempMed 

in  a  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Peter  M'Owan  (London,  1873). 

4.  Magazines 

The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine. 

The  Wesleyan  Association  Magazine. 

The  Methodist  New  Connexion  Magazine. 

The  Primitive  Methodist  Magazine. 

The  Wesleyan  Vindicator.    Published  during  the  crisis  of  1849. 


The  Minutes  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Conference. 

The  Other  Nonconformist  Churches 

Carlile,  J.  C,  The  Story  of  the  English  Baptists  (London,  1905). 

Dale,  R.  W.,  History  of  English  Congregationalism  (N.  Y.  and  Lon- 
don, 1907). 

Book  of  Christian  Discipline  of  the  Religious  Society  of  Friends  in 
Great  Britain  (London,  1883). 

Epistles  from  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends,  Held  in  London,  to  the 
Quarterly  and  Monthly  Meetings  in  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and 
Elsewhere;  from  1681  to  1857,  Inclusive:  With  an  Historical  In- 
troduction, and  a  Chapter  Comprising  Some  of  the  Early  Epistles 
and  Records  of  the  Yearly  Meetings.    2  vols.  (London,  1858). 

Emmott,  Elizabeth  B.,  The  Story  of  Quakerism  (London,  1908). 

Miall,  Edward,  The  British  Churches,    2d  ed.  (London,  1850). 


I50  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [614 

Stoughton,  John,  History  of  Religion  in  England.    8  vols.   (London, 

1881-84). 
Waddington,    John,    Congregational   History.     Continuation    to    1850 

(London,  1878). 


Adamson,  William,  The  Life  of  Joseph  Parker  (London  and  Edin- 
burgh, 1902). 

Arnot,  William,  Life  of  James  Hamilton  (London,  1870). 

Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Elizabeth  Fry,  with  Extracts  from  Her  Letters 
and  Journal.  Edited  by  Two  of  Her  Daughters.  2  vols.  (Phila- 
delphia, 1848). 

Hood,  Edwin  P.,  The  Earnest  Minister:  A  Record  of  the  Life  and 
Selections  from  Posthumous  and  Other  Writings  of  the  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin Parsons,  of  Ebley,  Gloucestershire  (London,  1846). 

Macleod,  Donald,  Memoirs  of  Norman  Macleod  (Toronto,  1876). 

Miall,  Arthur,  Life  of  Edward  Miall  (London,  1884). 

Parker,  Joseph,  A  Preacher's  Life  (London,  1899). 

Stoughton,  John,  Recollections  of  a  Long  Life  (London,  1894). 


The  Eclectic  Review. 
The  Evangelical  Magazine. 
The  Nonconformist. 

General  Religious  Thought 

Hall,  T.  C.,  The  Social  Meaning  of  Modern  Religious  Movements  in 

England  (N.  Y.,  1900). 
Tulloch,  John,  Movement  of  Religious  Thought  in  Britain  during  the 

Nineteenth  Century  (London,  1885). 


INDEX 


Alton  Locke,  20.  79 

Anti^Corn  Law  Agitation,  30,  40, 

85,  103 
Anti-Corn  Law  Conference,  25,  98 

Baptists,  45,  100 

Barker,  Joseph,  19,  28,  33,  51,  62, 

63.  95,  105,  106,  107,  III,  115 
Binns,  George,  104 
Brewster,   Rev.    Patrick,    18,    107, 

III,  112,  114,  118 
Bright,  John,  104 
Broad  Church  Movement,  75,  80 
Bronterre's  National  Reformer,  34 
Bunting,  Rev.  Jabez,  83.  85,  89 

Carlile,  Richard,  15,  18 
Catholic  Church,  104 
Chartism  Unmasked,  60 
Chartist  Circular,  42,  47,  49 
Chartist  Teetotal  Societies,  54,  55, 

131  . 
Christian    Chartist    Churches,   22, 

27,  42,  102,  108 
Christian    Guardian    and    Church 

of  England  Magazine,  65 
Christian  Observer,  38,  67 
Christian  Remembrancer,  66 
Christian  Socialists,  80 
Church  of  England  Magazine,  13, 

67 
Cleave,  John,  47.  48,  54 
Complete    Suffrage,    22,    96,    loi, 

IIS.  121 , 
Congregational  Church,  24,  98 
Congregational  Magazine,  98 
Coningsby,  72 
Cooper's  Journal,  33 
Cooper,  Thomas,  16,  18,  33,  51,  55, 

95,  loi,  102 
Cooper,  Walter,  15.  18 
Convention  of  1851,  34,  56 

Disraeli,  Benjamin,  72 
615] 


Eclectic  Review,  gg,  116 

Education,  46 

Elliott,  Ebenezer,  30 

Engels,  Frederick,  12,  15 

The  English  Chartist  Circular,  54 

Established  Church,  11.  26,  28,  58, 

62,  87,  126 
Established   Church   of   Scotland, 

107 

Female  Chartist  Societies,  56 
Fox,  W.  J.,  19,  SI,  106,  III 
Frost,  John,  41 

Giles,  IRev.  Eustace,  10,  18,  28,  113 
Griffeth,  Rev.  William,  83,  91 

Hetherington,  Henry,  is,  47.  50,  54 
Hill,  Rev.  William,  26,  28,  35,  in, 

113 
Holyoake,  G.  J.,  is,  18,  76 

Jackson,  Rev.  William,  loi,  114 
Jenkinson.  Rev.  John,  loi,  112 

Kingsley,  Rev.  Charles,  is,  68,  75, 
133 

London  Working  Men's  Associa- 
tion, 9,  S3,  56,  80 
Lovett,  William,  19,  33,  46-S4,  57 

Manchester  Conference  of  Minis- 
ters, 107 

Maurice,  Rev.  F.  D..  15,  75-79 

Methodist  New  Connexion,  &,  90, 
95,  106 

Miall,  Rev.  Edward,  13,  18,  22,  98, 
99,  112,  113,  116-118 

Militarism,  56 

National    Complete    Suffrage 
Union,  99 

New  Poor  Law.  10,  94 

151 


152 


INDEX 


[6l6 


The  Non-Conformist,  34,  98,  99, 

loi,  113,  116 
Northern  Star,  16,  26,  68,  113 

Oastler,  Richard,  93 

O'Brien,  Bronterre,  31-33,  47.  74, 

104 
O'Connor,  Feargus,  28.  49,  50,  74, 

104,  108,  iir 
O'Malley,  Rev.  Thaddeus,  18,  105, 

112 
O'Neill,  Arthur,  19,  44,  102 
Oxford  Movement,  12,  58,  70,  71, 

75 

People,  The,  29,  106,  113 
Politics  for  the  People,  77 
Presbyterian  Church,  105 
Primitive  Methodists,  83,  86,  90 

Quakers,  102 

Reform  Bill,  9.  14,  59.  68,  70,  83 
Reformer,  The,  33,  49 
Reformer's  Almanac,  55,  113 
Ritchie,  Rev.  John,  18,  109,  112 
Robertson,  Rev.  F.  W.,  12,  78,  79 


Sadler,  M.  T..  93 

Scholefield,    Rev,   James,   28,    90, 

113,  115 
Solly,  Rev.  Henry,  17,  19,  27,  28, 

57,  los,  114,  117 
Spencer,  Rev.  Thomas,  18,  22,  28, 

31.  112,  113,  117,  118 
Stephens,  Rev.  J.  R.,  18,  22,  27,  31, 

83,  84,  87,  93,  III,  113,  114 
Sturge,  Joseph,  18,  22,  103, 104, 116 
Sybil,  72 

Temperance  and  Chartism,  52 

Unitarian  Church,  106 

Wade,  Rev.   Arthur   S.,   18,   in, 

112,  118 
Watson,  James,  15,  18,  47,  48,  54 
Weekly  Adviser,  ^,  33,  49 
Wesleyan   Methodist  Church,    12, 

19,  24,  26,  30,  33,  45,  80-95 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine,  88 
Wesleyan  Reform  Movement,  83 

Young  England,  71,  72,  75 


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